Posted on 06/03/2007 5:09:42 AM PDT by radar101
NORTH (SAN DIEGO) COUNTY ---- Rep. Darrell Issa, a Vista Republican who has been considered in some circles a relative moderate on immigration matters, has joined a caucus of anti-illegal immigration lawmakers.
Issa, R-Vista, announced last week that he had joined the Immigration Reform Caucus, a predominantly hard-line Republican group founded in 1999 by conservative members of Congress opposed to illegal immigration.
His move comes at a critical time, as the U.S. Senate continues debating a controversial immigration reform bill that would pave the way to give millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become legal residents.
Immigration analysts on both sides of the debate speculated last week that Issa may have been persuaded by angry constituents to move further to the political right on immigration.
Issa rejected that suggestion and said Thursday that he had always had a tough stance on immigration matters.
"I joined to influence the caucus from within," said Issa, who said he staunchly opposes the reform bill, which is being pushed by presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "I joined to say to Sen. John McCain, 'your bill is not the right bill.' "
The bill, known as the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, was a compromise resulting from closed-door negotiations among a group of about a dozen Democratic and Republican senators and Bush administration officials.
The bill would make some of the most drastic changes to the nation's immigration policy in more than two decades. Among other changes, it would create a new guest worker program and adopt new criteria for future legal immigration.
Issa said opposition to the Senate bill was part of the reason for the growing numbers in the Immigration Reform Caucus.
The caucus was founded by conservative congressman and illegal immigration opponent Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., a leader in the hard-line movement against legalizing illegal residents.
When he stepped down as the group's leader earlier this year, Tancredo, who is also running for president, said he decided to do so because he believed "new blood and fresh eyes" were needed for the job.
He chose Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, as his successor.
Bilbray, who campaigned almost solely on an anti-immigration platform, said Issa's membership strengthens the group. Bilbray was out of the country last week and could not be reached for comment, but his office released a written statement.
"Congressman Issa understands that rewarding illegal immigrants with a path to citizenship is a recipe for disaster," Bilbray said in the statement.
Bilbray's chief of staff, Steve Danon, said that since the congressman took over the leadership position in February, the number of members in the caucus has grown from about 80 to 105, including five Democrats.
With 105 members, the group could be influential if the Senate bill is passed and moves to the House for debate, analysts said. That's because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, has said that she would like at least 70 of the 201 House Republicans, to vote with Democrats to pass a bipartisan immigration reform bill.
"With these numbers, I don't see how they can get that," said John Keeley, spokesman for the Center for Immigration Studies, an organization that favors stricter immigration policies.
Keeley said Democrats want a bipartisan vote to give them political cover in next year's presidential election, when public sentiment about illegal immigration could turn against them.
Tamar Jacoby, a conservative immigration analyst who supports the Senate bill, said the Immigration Reform Caucus was likely to play an important role in the House debate on immigration. But she added that being members doesn't mean Republicans will vote along with the group.
Jacoby said a number of Republicans will "hold their nose and vote for the bill."
She added that supporters of the bill did not expect to convince Bilbray and other hard-liners on immigration to vote in favor, but they might convince some moderates, such as Issa and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.
Pence, a member of the immigration caucus, offered a proposal that would require people who came to the country illegally to return home before applying for citizenship.
Caucus members "are going to have a big impact in the House where we are going to need somewhere between 40 and 70 (GOP) votes," Jacoby said. "And I don't think we'll get Bilbray, but we won't get those 70 votes without people like Pence."
Both Keeley and Jacoby said an outcry from people who oppose legalizing illegal immigrants may have influenced members to join the immigration caucus, including Issa. Various anti-illegal immigration groups have launched call-in and letter-writing campaigns against the Senate bill recently.
"Maybe he got religion at a critical time," Keeley said. "Funny what happens when Joe Public gets really riled up about an issue."
Issa said his decision to join was driven by principle, not politics.
"We have to work together to find a principled compromise," he said. "We are not going to reward people who came here illegally, but we are not going to punish everyone because the system is broken."
Issa said his membership in the organization signals that the organization is becoming more mainstream, not that he changed his position on immigration.
"The Immigration Reform Caucus is being pulled to the center," he said. "This is the mainstream opinion. This is the majority of Republicans' opinion."
Though he has been criticized by some anti-illegal immigration groups, Issa's voting record on immigration related issues is very similar to Bilbray's record, according to a group that tracks congressional votes on immigration legislation.
In 2002, a group of about a dozen anti-illegal immigration activists protested what they said was Issa's "consistently poor" voting record on immigration reform, including his proposal to shut down U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints along Interstates 5 and 15.
However, an anti-illegal immigration group called Numbers USA gave Issa's voting record on immigration matters an "A" and gave Bilbray an "A minus," according to the group's spokeswoman, Caroline Espinosa.
The group's criteria includes votes and support for legislation that increase border enforcement and reduces legal immigration, amnesties, benefits for illegal immigrants and citizenship for children of illegal immigrants.
Espinosa said her group generally supports the Immigration Reform Caucus and its goals.
"In general, we do support them," she said. "(Immigration) is such a complex issue and individual members have different issues, but overall they are against amnesty and for enforcing the law."
That is an oxymoron (and Tamar IS a moron).
No way you can be conservative and for this bill.
The only “reform” is to enforce our existing immigration laws.
Thanks for posting. BTTT!
What I want and what I know my friends want is a bill that paves the way for millions of illegal immigranst a chance to go back to Mexico ASAP, and build a strong and properous nation there on their own territory.
As Fred says, this is OUR home, and WE decide who to invite in. Without such an invitation, these folks are nothing but trespassers.
Starting to look like this bill may be doomed.
LOL. Even if buried now, it will be back after 2008, when the left controls the presidency also. And, it will be a hundred times worse then.
Very Good News....
You are just a bundle of good news! ;-)
Sounds like a good time to present our views to Pence...
There I fixed it, but I think that's already a law?
sw
Things look worse for America and freedom now than they have at any time since the late 1960's and early 1970's. And it's not just the immigration debate. Grim times happen. It looks to me as if we are heading toward some really bad ones.
They also continuously refer to her as an "expert" on the issue. She doesn't know jack squat about immigration other than it can be a very useful tool for depressing wages.
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