Immigration – Picking a Side

Immigration – Picking a Side

July 10, 2006

Later today, senior presidential adviser Karl Rove will speak at the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza, the largest Latino civil rights and advocacy group in the United States. No doubt Rove will use this opportunity to talk about immigration. The question is, which side of the immigration debate will Rove come down on? The side President Bush seemed to favor — comprehensive immigration reform? Or the side that right wingers in the White House and Congress are proposing — punitive enforcement-only measures? Rove and President Bush can not have it both ways. They can not continue to say to one crowd that they support real reform and then allow major factions within their party to push through legislation that will not address the immigration crisis facing this country.

• Local field hearings are doing little to move reform along.  Instead of acting on the immigration bill passed by the Senate, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) "announced the House would hold a slew of immigration hearings across the nation in July and August before agreeing to negotiations."  These hearings have not been balanced and have become rallying points for groups like the vigilante Minute Men and further inflamed the national immigration debate. ("They are trying to give the impression that terrorist equals immigrant," Tamar Jacoby, senior fellow of the conservative Manhattan Institute, said of one House hearing titled "Border Vulnerabilities to Terrorist Threats.")  The American people would have been better served if the House had worked with the Senate to finalize a bill.

• The “triggered” approach being floated by conservatives flies in the face of true comprehensive reform.  In May, President Bush said, "An immigration reform bill needs to be comprehensive, because all elements of this problem must be addressed together, or none of them will be solved at all."  He has also repeatedly said "it's impractical to force millions of illegal immigrants to leave the country."  Yet, after an Oval Office meeting recently with Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), "a leading conservative proponent of an enforcement-first bill," Bush is reportedly now considering an approach that violates both of these statements.  Under Pence's plan, a guest worker program would be implemented "only after a trigger, the certification that the new border security measures have been substantially completed."  Also, undocumented immigrants would have to leave the country and enroll at so-called "Ellis Island Centers" before being considered for the guest worker program.  As the Los Angeles Times notes, this is "a practical pipe dream."

• Immigrants are a vital part of America’s fabric. In stark contrast to the divisive House hearings, the Senate will hold a briefing today in Miami "to highlight the contributions of foreign-born soldiers in the war on terror," featuring Sens. John Warner (R-VA), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and John McCain (R-AZ), as well as Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  A report last year found non-citizen immigrants compose roughly seven percent of America's active fighting force.  Immigrants have also made up "the backbone of post-Hurricane Katrina reconstruction.” The experience of those working to rebuild New Orleans also provides yet another reason to support truly comprehensive immigration reform.