Posted on 08/01/2005 12:04:27 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON - White tablecloths, polished silverware and candlelight are the tools of a cunning suitor. But when found in a dining room in the House of Representatives, they signal high politics rather than romantic intentions.
The elegant atmosphere is what Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona, chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, is using to help build agreement among his GOP colleagues on an issue where there is little: immigration reform.
"I want people to realize that there is more that holds us together than pulls us apart," he said.
Now, the elements of a major policy push are coming together for the first time since Congress last passed a comprehensive immigration overhaul in 1986.
President Bush has put immigration near the top of a list of goals and is re-entering the debate after backing off when a guest-worker proposal he announced in January 2004 was roundly criticized.
But it will take more than what Shadegg calls "unity dinners" to bridge the divisions that split Republicans when it comes to fixing what many see as a dangerously crippled immigration system.
Immigration policies are under stress everywhere, and certainly in Houston. It's one of 31 cities that bar police officers from enforcing immigration law, such as patrolling for illegal visitors or asking for documents, a fact that has drawn harsh criticism from congressional conservatives and some local officials.
This month, the founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, the group that sent hundreds of unarmed volunteers to patrol Arizona's remote border to catch illegal crossers, discussed plans in Houston to start a chapter in the city and monitor day-labor sites.
Last week, Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, introduced legislation that would allow border-state governors to establish armed citizen militias to patrol the U.S. borders and catch people trying to cross illegally.
About 1.1 million people were caught crossing illegally into the United States last year.
An ambitious plan
Over the past few weeks, Bush has enlisted Republicans such as former House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Dallas to build a lobbying machine made up of corporations and activist groups that will try to win over lawmakers when the president decides on a specific reform bill.
Senior White House adviser Karl Rove has begun meeting with key lawmakers, such as GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who have introduced immigration measures.
"We have really just begun some of the intensive consultations with members of Congress about moving forward on a comprehensive piece of legislation," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "It's critical that any reform address border security, enforcement and the economic reality of demand for willing workers."
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has said Congress should think about passing separate bills, one dealing with enforcement against illegal immigration and another creating a guest-worker program.
Shadegg and Republican leaders, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., want to finish work on the immigration issue this year.
It's an ambitious schedule: Specter's panel will be busy this fall with Supreme Court confirmation proceedings and, more importantly, the majority party is still badly split on what approach to take.
"It doesn't look like the stars are properly aligned for any type of compromise at the present time," conceded House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican who takes a hard line on illegal immigration and whose committee would have jurisdiction over any legislation.
Within the incredibly complex and politically radioactive immigration debate, one of the toughest parts will be figuring out how to deal with the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
They represent about 30 percent of America's foreign-born population, and many have been here for years, buying homes, having children and owning businesses.
'We need them' Mexicans account for most unauthorized immigrants and up to 75 percent of all new illegal entrants, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
About 14 percent of all illegal immigrants, or 1.4 million, reside in Texas.
Nationwide, illegal immigrants account for about 6.3 million workers in a labor force of 146 million. Their economic importance has prompted many business groups, which traditionally support Republicans, to back guest-worker programs and immigration reforms that create easier paths toward citizenship.
"We need them," said John Gay, co-chair of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, which is made up of high-level business and trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Most lawmakers agree that any immigration reform proposal should beef up border security, create tamper-proof identification documents, and get tough on employers who knowingly hire workers here illegally.
They want to convert illegal immigrants into legally documented residents with some combination of a temporary guest-worker program and clearer paths to citizenship.
But the methods proposed to do that highlight the fundamental disagreements that split the GOP.
One faction supports tough policies that address the anger some U.S. citizens harbor toward foreigners who break the law to enter the country.
In the post-Sept. 11 era, many also see illegal immigration as a dangerous gap in national security.
A comprehensive proposal from Sens. Cornyn and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., would require all illegal immigrants to leave the U.S. within five years and then apply to return either as temporary guest workers or as immigrants in the process of obtaining green cards.
Exodus bill criticized
Cornyn, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee's immigration subcommittee, wants a system that he says is fair to those who enter the country legally and avoids rewarding people who break the law to do so.
The bill includes strict enforcement measures, funds the hiring of more border agents and immigration inspectors and sets tough sanctions on employers who knowingly hire illegal workers. But the mass departure program has come under fire from several Republicans, including Armey and Shadegg.
They say undocumented workers will not come forward if they know they are going to be deported, even if it's for a short period of time.
Cornyn points to a Pew Hispanic Center survey in which most undocumented immigrants said they would participate in a program that would let them work legally in the U.S. and require them to eventually return home.
A bipartisan approach
The measure also has some support among agriculture groups.
"Many farm workers are younger with few ties in the United States," said Austin Perez, director of congressional relations with the American Farm Bureau Federation.
"A lot of them really are coming here to build a nest egg so down the road they can go back and buy a home or start a business. A work-and-return program would make a lot of sense."
But Armey and others support an initiative introduced in May by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz.
Under their proposal, illegal immigrants could apply for temporary work permits for up to six years.
They could earn legal resident status by meeting several requirements, including criminal background checks and English literacy tests.
samantha.levine@chron.com
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***.........House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has said Congress should think about passing separate bills, one dealing with enforcement against illegal immigration and another creating a guest-worker program.....****
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***.............Senior White House adviser Karl Rove has begun meeting with key lawmakers, such as GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who have introduced immigration measures..........A comprehensive proposal from Sens. Cornyn and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., would require all illegal immigrants to leave the U.S. within five years and then apply to return either as temporary guest workers or as immigrants in the process of obtaining green cards......***
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***..............[President] Bush has enlisted Republicans such as former House Majority Leader,Dick Armey of Dallas to build a lobbying machine made up of corporations and activist groups that will try to win over lawmakers when the president decides on a specific reform bill.............. Armey and others support an initiative introduced in May by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz. ..... Under their proposal, illegal immigrants could apply for temporary work permits for up to six years. They could earn legal resident status by meeting several requirements, including criminal background checks and English literacy tests. ***
Wake up and smell the coffee guys. No real immigration enforcement and you will loose my vote and a lot of others.
Your core constituients will stay home in 2008(maybe a warning shot in 2006) and you will loose the election.
So be it..if we have to go thru Hillary to get it done..
The problem "is way worse than it was three or four years ago," said Michael Tones, the vice president of New Plan Excel Realty Trust, which owns a shopping center in the area. Tones said customers are frightened by the men loitering along Shepherd near 11th Street.
……………Before the center opened, many of the day laborers would drink in public. He is working to cut down on the drinking, but conceded that some workers still drink outside.
"I tell them to drink at home," he said. "I tell them: If you don't respect me, at least respect the place." …….Deras hopes to get most of the workers from the area to come to the center, but some still prefer to wait for work on nearby corners……..***
Now is the time to review what's being put on the table and add a rational voice to the debate.
Kinda makes ya wonder what these a--wipes would do if we were in a war, and the enemy was flying airpanes into big buildings, don't it?
They're trying to do something.
Look at what's being proposed.
I broke it down from the article.
Is there nothing there you can work with?
That's a wonderful idea!
Put up giant billboards bearing a likeness of Hillary's face on the border. The illegal immigrant traffic will drop precipitously. Those few who still get through will tell horrifying stories about their fellow migrants dying in puddles of their own puke at the sight.
Foolish statement. There's no comparison between the Bush family and the Clintons. After everything the Clintons have done, and you can sit there and threaten to let Hillary in with your vote solely over Bush's border policy? You think Hillary cares? You think she will help legislation that will EVER close our borders? More than just lip service?
Lets just assume you needed to vent and leave it at that.
An immigration bill is putting the cart before the horse. Border bill must come first. Seal the southern border now!
Then you like Tom DeLay's approach?
BTTT
"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,
1. The act of invading; the act of encroaching upon the rights or possessions of another; encroachment; trespass.
I agree. I will no longer vote for an open border president. I dont care whos running against Hillary, if they support open borders like Bush they wont get my vote. I dont care what you bleeding heart Republicans think. Nothing will change unless people stop voting for open border politicians.
Tell me what Bush has done his 2nd term thats different then what Clinton or a Democrap would have done? Bushs spends like a drunken sailor, gives money for AIDS in Africa, supports open borders, dosent let are troops fight a real war instead a PC war where are troops have to know how to handle a Kuran.
I want a president who tightens are borders, dosent spend like a democrap, and fights a real war.
"I want a president who tightens are borders, dosent spend like a democrap, and fights a real war."
The GOP better wake up many of us are fed up.
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