(AZ Republican Senator) Kyl Hits Immigration Head Wind

Wall Street Journal ^ | May 23, 2007 | SARAH LUECK

[bd476]

Senator's Support of Compromise Divides Republican Base

WASHINGTON -- Last year, in the midst of a heated re-election campaign, Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl hurled at his opponent a damaging accusation in the border state: He ran TV ads saying the Democrat supported "amnesty" for illegal immigrants.

Now, as Mr. Kyl backs a bipartisan Senate immigration bill, he is hearing the same charge leveled at him by other Republicans in his state and on conservative blogs and radio shows.

The debate between the conservative Mr. Kyl and his base is one of the most important battles determining the fate of the landmark immigration overhaul. Mr. Kyl hopes his endorsement will help win over other immigration hard-liners, a constituency where he has credibility, particularly after opposing last year's Senate-passed bill as too weak. That's the main reason the Bush administration pinpointed Mr. Kyl early on as a focal point of its legislative strategy.

Mr. Kyl yesterday won a victory in the Senate's first day considering amendments, as fellow lawmakers overwhelmingly defeated an attempt by some Democrats to strip out a temporary "guest worker" program that he backs.

But so far at least, Mr. Kyl appears to be having a hard time drawing the support of his fellow conservatives. And if he ultimately flees -- as he says he still may -- the entire effort is more likely to unravel.

On Monday, protesters outside his Phoenix office waved signs reading "Recall Kyl," reported local radio station KTAR. The state Republican Party chairman, Randy Pullen, held a news conference criticizing the legislation and said the Republican base is upset by Mr. Kyl's support of it.

[angkor]

This headline is in error. The base is not divided, it is the elected officials divided from their base.

I urge you to send that as an email to the WSJ. Concise, pithy, and dead-on accurate.

wsj.ltrs@wsj.com

[angkor]

I’d like to know how these ‘poor’ low paid workers are going to come up with $5,000 apiece?

It's only $1,000 at the beginning, with the balance to be paid upon some later step which I forget.

In any case they will provide ample exemptions for "hardship cases" and/or forgive the $4,000 balance entirely. It ain't gonna' happen.

[HeartlandOfAmerica]

We're supposed to pay for the illegal's lawyer so they can stay in this country?

We're supposed to give them in-state tuition so they can get benefits of the American dream that even American children don't get?

We're supposed to push forward the North American Union with no input from WE THE PEOPLE?

I have no idea what Kyl was thinking, but he's shown just how much of an amateur he is, being rolled by Kennedy like this.

[CharlesWayneCT]

I’m a pretty vocal backer of some form of amnesty and a comprehensive immigration reform, but I’m not backing the senate bill as it now stands.

[gpapa]

The Senate bill is not dead by a long shot. As long as business interests keep pushing for it the Pubbies are more likely to support it since those groups are heavy donors to their campaigns. The Congress-critters are most interested in one thing, getting re-elected, giving the grass roots the shaft.

[gpapa]

The guest worker provision has nothing to do with giving amnesty to illegal aliens. It is a program to increase the number of temporary workers to enter the country legally to work in labor intensive industries. Current law for example allows an unlimited number of agricultural guest workers. Those guest workers are paid more on average than their illegal counterparts, thus some businesses, especially small ones, will continue to ignore the law. Of course if some of those same workers do not return to their home country after their temporary work permits expire we will be faced with more resident illegal aliens than we have now.

[Luke21]

I sent him an e-mail telling him and Bush and McCain to rot in Hell. Hope that’s typical of his constituents.

[sheana]

his endorsement will help win over other immigration hard-liners, a constituency where he has credibility, particularly after opposing last year’s Senate-passed bill as too weak.

These people are too stupid and think we are too.

[erton1]

Kyl just got reelected to a new 6 year term.

[gubamyster]

ping

[spectre]

Swell...

sw

[Spiff]

It is unprecedented for the State Republican Party Chairman to send out official correspondence and hold a news conference in opposition to something that the Republican Senators from that state are doing. I'm so glad that I've supported Randy Pullen for years now. He is a true conservative and gives me hope in the Republican Party. If only we could have coordinated this and had all state party chairs replaced with conservatives. Imagine how the face of politics would look today. Let's kill this bill and then let's see more conservatives get organized and put in conservative party chairs.

[jpsb]

'I don’t see this bill going anywhere"

I would not be so sure, the attempt to quickly pass it failed, which really is a shame cause that would have really stroked the fires in the GOP base and ensured it's defeat in the House. Now things are cooling off a bit making possible it's passage in the Senate in a week or too. As we all knew the fight is still going to be in the House. That's how it looked a week ago and that's how it still looks. I've read 70 GOP are needed to pass, surely a fired up GOP base can keep 70 R's in line. The thing I worry about is a NAFTA like lame duck session.

[jpsb]

"The Dems see it as the perfect storm"

Absolutely correct and they (Dems) are right. The Dems are going to put GOP finger prints all over this and then enjoy watching the blood bath in 08. Can't blame them, they are just giving the GOP all the rope it needs to hang itself.

[Dante3]

Exactly.

Why the Senators are in such a frenzy for this bill - even tried to sneak it through - has scary implications.

[Politicalmom]

I have been trying since Friday. STILL haven’t gotten through.

[AuntB]

Don't underestimate Bush and the Democrats. The administration has pulled out all the stops, labeling the conservative base as bigots, or worse, if you listen to Chertoff's vitriol.

They do this because it has worked in the past to derail any real 'reform'. It's happened before, and it's the same players. Norquist is the man in charge of immigration policy for the White House.

1996...... “ Grover Norquist, a social conservative and anti-tax Republican lobbyist, reveled unapologetically in the tactics he used to undermine the verification initiative and to mock Simpson personally. The peel-off bar-code tattoos were supposed to remind people of the way Nazis tattooed Jews during World War II.

“It was great,” recalled Norquist, who is close to House Speaker Newt Gingrich. “We had our guys walking around with tattoos on their arms. It drove Simpson nuts because the implication was he’s a Nazi.”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1836630/posts?page=37#37

[justanotherfreeper]

There are three massive increases for illegals: 1) the “Z” visa, which is the amnesty and takes place immediately for the 12 or 15 or 20 million illegals here now 2) the “Y” visa, which is the new massive guestworker program and 3) A quadrupling of chain migration, supposedly ending in 8 years. The Dems only object to the Y guest worker visa, why God only knows as the Y visa (along with the Z visa) has a “path to citizenship” built in.

[justanotherfreeper]

Unfortunately I believe you are wrong. Pelosi is saying the bill will die if she doesn't get 70 votes, but that is really to sucker more idiot Senators into voting for it. Remember how Bush signed McCain Feingold "campaign finance reform" thinking the Supreme Court would overturn it? Same thing, Senators may vote for it thinking it will get killed in the House.

Nancy knows if she can pass a bill, any bill, she can go to conference with the senate (the conference committee being a small hand picked group from House and Senate leadership, so that will be mostly the same folks who negotiated this monstrosity in the first place) and remove anything the Dems don't like and give her party permanent majority status. The President has bascially said he'll sign any bill put in front of him. Your first clue that this is the strategy: it's been posted here that the White House intends to only lobby Dems in the House to get this bill passed (look at paragraph 5.) So the White House clearly intends to build a left leaning majority for this. This bill will pass unless we can stop it in the Senate. Keep the heat on.

[tiger-one]

Call, Call, Call keep the pressure up.