Posted on 06/25/2007 4:12:03 PM PDT by radar101
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Months of tumultuous negotiations with the White House and GOP allies have brought the Senate's liberal lion, Edward M. Kennedy, to the brink of passing a bill to legalize up to 12 million unlawful immigrants.
But his concessions to get there have alienated liberals who in the past have counted him as their strongest champion. A showdown test vote is scheduled Tuesday, and the Senate could pass -- or reject -- the bill by week's end.
Traditional Kennedy allies are mystified and angry at the Massachusetts senator's willingness to accept Republican-backed measures such as subjecting illegal immigrants to steep fines and trips home, separating immigrants from relatives and letting new guest workers stay only for short periods of time with little chance of citizenship.
"I think that in his heart, he's where I'm at, but he wants to see a deal move forward and he's willing to take certain steps that I might not be willing to take," said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who abandoned the deal just before it was announced because it scrapped many immigrants' ability to come to the U.S. based solely on family ties.
"In the pursuit of moving us along, he's probably swallowed hard on some things that he himself would not have accepted" otherwise, Menendez added.
It's a familiar spot for Kennedy, 75, whose standing as a liberal firebrand during his 45 years in the Senate belies his history of partnering with Republicans on major domestic agenda items.
He's done so twice before with President Bush, on the No Child Left Behind education law and a broad Medicare prescription drug overhaul. In both cases, Kennedy was accused by liberals of compromising too much in the interests of a deal.
"You can hold to rigid positions in the United States Senate -- and I respect that -- and get nothing done, or you can try and find common ground," Kennedy said in an interview with The Associated Press.
He regards an immigration overhaul as the civil rights imperative of the 21st century, and sees the same legacies of prejudice and discrimination standing in the way. Legalizing 12 million unlawful immigrants "is worth the fight," Kennedy said.
Kennedy's pragmatic history and his expertise -- he maneuvered a broad immigration overhaul through the Senate in 1965, during his second term -- has earned him Bush's trust.
"Senator Kennedy is one of the best legislative senators there is. He can get the job done. I know firsthand, because we reformed our education system," Bush said at a March news conference in Mexico.
Some activists who revere Kennedy privately voice a sense of betrayal at the lengths to which he has been willing to go in search of a deal.
The AFL-CIO condemned the bill last week, and its leaders have harsh words for the senator they trusted to shepherd a historic immigration measure.
"I am angry," said Ed Sullivan, president of the labor federation's building and construction trades department, and a Massachusetts native who describes Kennedy as a "good friend."
"We can't understand how our senators would support this." Sullivan said Kennedy's intentions were good, but his pragmatism drew him into a bad deal.
"I think he's locked in. He's a legislator that likes to pass legislation," Sullivan said.
In early March, representatives of liberal groups angrily cautioned Kennedy against starting negotiations with Bush's team and a group of senators led by conservative Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., on an immigration compromise that could attract GOP support. Kennedy contended it was the only way to craft a bill that would survive.
Months later, just before Kennedy went before news cameras to announce his breakthrough immigration deal with Republicans and the White House, some of them complained he had agreed to a shabby bargain that would rip families apart and sentence millions more immigrants to exploitation from abusive employers.
"We were saying, 'Senator, we think you're going too far,"' said Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum. "He told us, 'You're not going far enough. If you want to get this done, you've got to get real. I've been around this place 40 years. This is the best we can do. If you want to get it done, follow me."'
He may have sounded unshakable, but Kennedy admits to some moments of doubt during the roller coaster process of crafting the bill.
"Of course there are times when we really wonder whether it continues to make sense to engage in this," Kennedy said. "It's a battle."
Ultimately, though, he said, "I believe in the legislation. The alternative to this is nothing, and that's, I think, completely unacceptable."
Kennedy's involvement has made the immigration deal more difficult for some Republicans to stomach. Conservative critics of the plan brand it the "Kennedy-Bush amnesty" program, and invoke the Massachusetts senator's name to paint it as a far-left solution.
Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., has weathered bitter criticism back home for supporting the measure. NumbersUSA, an anti-immigration group, ran ads last week that juxtaposed Lott's picture next to Kennedy's and said Lott had "joined with Ted Kennedy in strong-arming senators to support amnesty for millions of illegals, many of whom have already taken jobs from Mississippi workers."
Kyl called working with Kennedy "a real education."
"He's a tough bargainer. He's a real strong advocate for some points of view with which I disagree, but I have found him to be a man of his word, and on the emotional and difficult issue of immigration reform, that's a big deal," Kyl said.
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The bill is S 1639.
Shouldn't that read, "to the brink of passing a bill to legalize up to 12 million votes.".
OK : Lets say that we allow 12 millions people to stay here. Why should that grant them the right to bring in their families and anyone else wanting to come.? I dont get it.
Just say NO to Illegal Alien Amnesty!! Keep calling!! It’s NOT OVER!!
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All Ted Kennedy needs to do is promise the holdouts another immigration/instant citizenship bill in 2009 (Which they will get if a Democrat wins the presidency)
We agree on something. I question Kennedy’s brokering of this deal, too. In fact, I question anything with Kennedy’s name attached to it.
How Ted is enjoying this. Bush is begging him to help destroy the GOP.
Well duh Teddy, we need more children who have
already had their homicide bomber training from a big mouse.
Feeding them cheeze all week.
It’s a shame that the country ran out of Kennedy shooters in the ‘60’s. They were onto something.
Compromise should be respected.. it’s defintely not anymore.. too many lunatics on all sides.
It’s logical however for Congress & the President to explain to the American people how we are going to prevent 10-30 million more immigrants from pouring across the border.
Tell me how we are going to seal ourselves up.. then I’m willing to hear how we can deal with the people here.
All I want is a little bit of common sense and logic from my elected representatives and then I’m all ears.
Thing is that most polls (Zogby, Ramssuen, ect) show that most (60%) people want some sort of amnesty for illegals (Everything from just letting them stay here (no citizenshipto instant citizenship for them). This explains why some leftist Dems oppose the bill-They want instant citizenship and NO security on the border, not even the token security that the Anmensty bill promises.
I often do wonder if, behind closed doors, the Left/Democrats are laughing at how the GOP leadership is seemingly eager to destroy their party.
As to the pending bill, this alleged unrest about it from the left is hard to believe. I almost believe that its orchestrated to give the bill a false appearance of being ‘centrist’, of ticking off both sides equally. The parts the Left dislikes the most are very likely never to come to pass even if the bill passes.
They don’t like how ‘guest workers’ aren’t given a path to citizenship, but the bill does nothing to make sure they go home, which means most will stay, and be given their own amnesty/path to citizenship. As George Borjas points out, the truth is that a large increase in permanent immigration is being disguised as a guest worker program. Smart leftists know this.
They also really don’t like how the bill will allegedly end extended family chain migration. The reason for the dislike is obvious; it would threaten the certainty with which immigration delivers huge net gains in new voters for the Democrats, and in growing the power of professional ethnic grievance groups like La Raza. But the bill would not bring about the switch to a point-based merit system until after 8 years of greatly expanded chain migration to ‘clear the backlog.’ If the Dems control Congress and the Presidency (or if there is a GOP President like Bush), then who thinks this change will ever take place? It will never happen. I could see them actually adopting a point system to increase high-skilled, highly educated immigration...while also maintaining unending chain migration, but I can’t see them letting go of a policy that will destroy the GOP demographically.
I’ll give otherwise stellar Senators like Kyl the benefit of the doubt and say that I believe that he actually believes the bill does create a genuinely ‘temporary guest worker program’ and that it will end chain migration. But I am greatly disappointed that with the former there is nothing with teeth in the legislation to make sure the ‘guests’ leave, while with the latter, we are supposed to believe it will actually go into effect eight years from now. How could Kyl go along with something he must know the Democrats will be working tirelessly to gut? And indeed, Pelosi has said that the end to chain migration is a deal breaker, while Kennedy himself has said they will work to ‘fix’ the legislation as soon as it becomes law! Is there any doubt that by ‘fix’, Kennedy means to abolish and half-way conservative provisions in the bill?
And finally, this talk about about how ending chain migration will ‘separate’ and ‘tear apart’ families is just infuriating, and insulting. Why is it the duty of the United States to be the location where all families are reunitied? Noone is making immigrants come here. In making that choice, they are the ones deciding to risk the break up of their family. They are the ones ‘tearing apart’ their own families, not our immigration policy. If its so crucial that they be together, then they could easily reunite in the home nation.
For the Democrats, I would strongly suggest taking a pro-union/anti-illegal alien stance (i.e. “they are taking our jobs”) rather than using the conservative national security angle.
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ping
Jorge gives figuaratively Teddy a big wet on, including some tongue.That is as sickening and slobbering display by anyone who ever had the unmigated gall to call himself a conservative with or without the compassionate qualifier.
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