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
Review what's being put on the table??? How about let's review what American citizens want and trash what's been put on the table...Along with the people that put it there...
The only time I will vote Republican again is 'for' impeachment, for any or all of them...
Review what's being put on the table??? How about let's review what American citizens want and trash what's been put on the table...Along with the people that put it there...
The only time I will vote Republican again is 'for' impeachment, for any or all of them...
Review what's being put on the table??? How about let's review what American citizens want and trash what's been put on the table...Along with the people that put it there...
The only time I will vote Republican again is 'for' impeachment, for any or all of them...
Any measure that doesn't immediately start with sealing the borders will be fruitless.
Dear OregonRepublican,
You don't sound like a very loyal Republican. Most FReepers agree with you re the illegal immigration issue but you just don't sound like you agree with anything the Republicans are doing.
alleged Conservatives on this site made the final choice for me.
HILLARYNOW is soliciting supporters and contributors.
Review what's being put on the table??? How about let's review what American citizens want and trash what's been put on the table...Along with the people that put it there...
The only time I will vote Republican again is 'for' impeachment, for any or all of them...
Just wanted to post your comments once more in case somebody didn't see it the first three times you posted it.
Well thankyou...I appreciate that...
Fact is, my mouse broke and I'm trying to navigate with just the keyboard...And what I see on the screen is not necessarily what I get when I post...
Computer's fault...I couldn't possibly make a mistake...
"HILLARYNOW is soliciting supporters and contributors."
Have fun there DUmmy
***On immigration reform, the president said he hopes to resolve differences with members of the Senate who are pushing for a more lenient law for illegal immigrants seeking work in the United States.
"This should not be an amnesty program," he said.
Bush's plan would provide temporary visas to guest workers. They would have to leave afterward, and program participants would get no special consideration when they apply for legal residence.
"It's very important for the American people to know immigration reform will be done with a border security initiative that makes it clear to the people that we will do everything we can to stop illegal people from coming into our country," Bush said.
He said a well-run guest worker program would help border security by taking pressure off the Border Patrol. If those who wish to enter the country to work can do so legally, he reasoned, fewer will try to infiltrate the border secretly.....***
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3291872
____________________________________________________________
***MEXICO CITY - With the American consulate in Nuevo Laredo closed in protest Monday, U.S. officials called on Mexican President Vicente Fox's government to "do what is necessary" to bring the gangland violence there under control.
"In short, we would like them to do what needs to be done to put an end to the violence," a State Department official said, on condition of anonymity, through the U.S. Embassy's press office. "We believe that the Mexican government has that capability."
U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza last Friday closed the consulate in Nuevo Laredo for a week, following a shootout in an upscale residential neighborhood that involved automatic rifles, grenades and rocket launchers. The State Department officials on Monday said the U.S. government wants to see drug gangs in the city denied such heavy weaponry.
......U.S. officials with knowledge of the crackdown insisted last week in a meeting with reporters that more can and should be done by the Mexican government. They said that leading gangsters in the city need to be targeted and U.S.-supplied intelligence needed to be acted upon more quickly...........***
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/world/3291672
A combination of a do nothing congress and crappy attitudes from alleged Conservatives on this site made the final choice for me.
Seems to me you have that same crappy attitude that you claim folks at this site have.
We'll still be here if you decide to come back(and we'll try to become "real" conservatives in the meantime).
GW's plan IS an amnesty plan any way you shake it. We could deport 1000 illegals a day but if the border is not secured, the net result would be an increase in the number of illegals. ANY fix to the illegal problem has to start wil sealing our borders.
I have yet to see any plan that is serious about fixing this problem.
There can be no rational voice for debate as long as we give American citizenship to anchor babies. Parents and children will never be seperated which means even after six years of work the illegals stay in America - all 15 million of them. And even more illegals will come because of CAFTA.
How anyone can believe that scurvy bunch in DC is beyond me.
Yeah you're right, I do have a crappy attitude.
Thank you very much, I worked for it by trying to put alleged conservatives into office from a party that I have worked for and with for the last 14 years.
I have EARNED my attitude.
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