Home > The Border Line > Archives > 2007 > June
June 2007
“Let the Oranges, Grapes and Apples Rot”
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat and leader on immigration issues, rejected the idea of passing an immigration bill only for agricultural workers, a strategy floated around Capitol Hill in light of the failure of a comprehensive approach.
“Until there’s justice for every dishwasher, for every person that cleans a hotel, for everyone that has to lose their fingers plucking chickens…let the oranges, grapes and apples rot,” he said.
Gutierrez made the statements in a passionate speech at the annual conference of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
On Thursday, the Senate voted against moving forward with an immigration bill that would have given illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and beefed up border security.
Democratic Slogans in Spanish
Several Democratic presidential candidates offered brochures, bumper stickers and flyers in Spanish at the annual convention of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials at the Disney World complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. this weekend.
Here are some sample slogans:
— “America Con Hillary” or “America with Hillary”
— “Mi Familia Con Bill Richardson” or “My Family with Bill Richardson”
— And an interesting one from Illinois Sen. Barrack Obama: “La Caminata Por El Cambio,” or “The Walk For Change.”
Seven Democratic presidential hopefuls were expected at a forum Saturday afternoon.
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A GOP Party Of One
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials invited all Republican presidential hopefuls to its annual convention at Disney World at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Only one showed up — Rep. Duncan Hunter, of California.
A grateful audience gave Hunter a standing ovation Friday and some convention goers posed for snapshots with the congressman after his question and answer session.
Standing at the lone candidate podium which was decorated in red, white and blue, Hunter was asked about his plan to fix the nation’s immigration system.
“We need to build the fence and build it quickly,” he said.
An 854-foot fence would help national security, stop crime along the border, and protect the United States from terrorists, he said.
After the forum, he told reporters the fence would also keep people from dying in the desert of heat exhaustion.
“If 200 kids a year were dying in a canal the first thing you would do is fence it,” he said.
On Saturday, seven Democratic presidential candidates were slated to attend a forum at the NALEO conference, including Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Barack Obama of Illinois, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Joseph Biden of Delaware, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.
“Fight The Good Fight”
Sen. Mel Martinez, chair of the Republican National Committee, said he would not give up on an immigration overhaul bill one day after the Senate voted to defeat the measure.
“We need to continue to fight the good fight — the problem didn’t go away yesterday,” he said Friday.
The Florida Republican is the only immigrant in the Senate and one of the key negotiators of the bill. He made the comments at the annual convention of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, at Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Martinez also blasted those who voted against the bill.
“There were not a lot of profiles in courage written on the floor of the Senate,” he said.
In addition, Martinez said the immigration bill’s demise was a “bi-partisan failure” and that proponents did not articulate well enough the positive aspects of the measure.
He also said that people who called the bill “amnesty” need to come up with a better solution than “just build a fence.”
“That’s not good enough for America,” he said.
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Mexico Reacts: Senate Shows Hypocrisy on Immigration
The demise of the Senate immigration reform bill was met with anger, but certainly not surprise, in Mexico, where much of the blame is being laid at the feet of President Bush. Newspaper editorials this morning marveled over Bush’s inability to rally his fellow Republicans to his cause.
The bill’s failure “accents the weakness of his presidency,” writes the left-leaning La Jornada newspaper, going on to say that Bush has “consumed all of his political capital on his absurd and criminal ‘war on terrorism.’”
El Universal accuses the United States of hypocrisy when it comes to immigration, saying “It’s obvious the politicians in that country want workers, but they’re not willing to create a legal framework for them.”
The writers go on to say Mexico also suffers from hypocrisy in the debate, since it has been unable to create enough jobs for its citizens. Immigration will “continue to be a thorn in the relations between Mexico and the United States,” the editorial concludes.
President Felipe Calderon called the Senate’s action a “grave error” during a press conference, saying the “only thing the Senate is doing is opening the door to illegal migration, which is precisely what generates worse conditions and risk and insecurity on both sides of the border.”
Few in Mexico had been holding out much hope for immigration reform, given its rocky road through the U.S. Congress so far.
Senators Receive Threats Over Bill
Several senators have received personally threatening letters or telephone calls as the Senate debated emotionally charged immigration legislation.
Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., received a threatening letter at his home over the weekend.
“The letter has been turned over to the Capitol police,” said Ken Lundberg, Martinez’s spokesman. He declined to elaborate on the letter.
Martinez, who was born in Cuba and is the only immigrant in the Senate, has been a lightening rod on the immigration issue because he is also the general chairman of the Republican Party. The most vitriolic opposition to the bill has come from conservative Republicans who have labeled it an amnesty for immigrants who entered the country illegally.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said on the Senate floor Thursday that he’d also received a threatening letter sent from his hometown of Searchlight, Nev. Reid said he turned the letter over to the Capitol police.
In addition, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., who is uncommitted on the bill, was quoted as saying his office had received a telephone call recently that “made a threat about knowing where I lived.”
Burr also passed the information to the law enforcement officials. “There were enough specifics to raise some alarm bells,” he said.
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A Head Of Lettuce For Chertoff
Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican and ardent critic of illegal immigration, took offense at a statement by Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff that “we’re living in a world in which lettuce and fruit is not being picked because we are enforcing the law.”
Tancredo (pictured), a GOP presidential candidate, said on Wednesday that the administration “has taken hyperbole to a whole new level.”
“They are now trying to convince the public that without amnesty, the American people are going to starve,” he said, in a statement.
“The agriculture industry and the free market has managed to keep producing through floods, droughts, and $3.00 per gallon gas,” Tancredo said. “I doubt very seriously that a nominal increase in labor costs is going to be the end of lettuce as we know it.”
To accent the point, Tancredo said he would send a head of lettuce and a fruit basket to Chertoff’s office.
House Republicans Lay Down the Gauntlet
While the Senate continues to debate a controversial immigration measure, most House Republicans have already made up their minds on the bill.
The chamber’s Republican conference passed a resolution late Tuesday that reads: “Resolved the House GOP Conference disapproves of the Senate immigration bill.”
The resolution was approved with a 114 to 23 vote.
Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said that House Republicans have been clear about their priorities when it comes to immigration.
“First things first: we must secure our border and enforce our laws,” he said. “Democrats, on the other hand, have consistently voted to undermine our border security efforts…Republicans want to find solutions to these difficult issues, but it has to start with strong border security.”
Earlier in the day, the Senate voted 64 to 35 to bring the immigration bill back to the floor. The measure would give illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, create a guest worker program, and increase border security and workplace enforcement.
Read more here.
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Bush: “An Historic Opportunity”
Just hours before a critical vote on a Senate immigration bill Tuesday, President Bush urged lawmakers to support the controversial legislation.
“I view this as an historic opportunity for Congress to act, for Congress to replace a system that is not working with one that we believe will work a lot better,” he said. “In other words, this is a moment for people who have been elected to come together, focus on a problem, and show the American people that we can work together to fix the problem.”
The White House has mounted an aggressive lobbying effort on the legislation which would give illegal immigrants a chance at legal status, create a guest worker program, and increase border security and workplace enforcement.
The overall bill has been assailed by conservatives as an amnesty for lawbreakers. On the left, some don’t like the bill’s move to lesson the influence of family ties in immigration law.
Bush said the measure “goes to the heart of our values.”
“We have proven that our nation is capable of assimilating people. And I’m confident that we can continue to be a nation that assimilates. The bill recognizes that English is a part of the assimilation process,” he said.
A “Danger To Our Nation”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said on Monday that a White House-backed immigration measure “presents an actual danger to our nation.”
Cornyn said that the measure’s “impossible goals,” including conducting criminal background checks in 24 hours, could lead to terrorists gaining legal status and traveling freely to and from other countries.
“I cannot support this flawed bill or this broken secret process that has produced it,” he said, on the Senate floor.
Earlier, Cornyn joined two ardent opponents of the bill — Sens. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and Jim W. DeMint,, R- S.C.— at a Capitol Hill press conference.
Cornyn had been a key negotiator on the bill but walked away from the final product last month.
The measure faces a critical vote on Tuesday to proceed If that vote succeeds, around 22 amendments will likely be debated through the week, including some that could potentially gut the legislation.
(photo by Rick McKay)
At the White House, officials were optimistic that the Senate would muster the 60 votes needed to move the legislation forward. “We do not intend to fail this week,” said Joel Kaplan, assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for policy, in a conference call with reporters. Kaplan also said that the 24-hour background check has been misunderstood. The check is part of the process to give illegal immigrants an initial probationary card, not a longer-term visa, he said. If they fail the background check, the illegal immigrants do not receive a “Z-visa” that would allow them to stay and work in the United States and would face deportation, he added. An amendment to lengthen the time for the criminal background check is expected to get a vote this week if the legislation moves forward.
High Tech Giants Strike Out
Despite aggressive lobbying, high-tech companies are still unhappy with the immigration bill pending in the Senate, the New York Times reported Monday.
High-tech companies were surprised and upset by the bill that emerged last month from secret Senate negotiations, the paper said.
“In the last two weeks, these businesses have quietly negotiated for changes to meet some of their needs. But the bill still falls far short of what they want, an outcome suggesting that their political clout does not match their economic strength,” the Times reported.
The Senate is planning to return to the immigration bill this week, with a critical vote to limit debate expected on Tuesday.
Read the entire report here.
Bush Calls For “Political Courage”
President Bush said Saturday that lawmakers must summon “the political courage” to move forward on a Senate immigration bill.
In his weekly radio address, Bush said the measure puts enforcement tools in place before creating programs to give illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and bring in guest workers.
“It means more Border Patrol agents, more fencing, more infrared cameras and other technologies at the border,” he said. “It also requires an employee-verification system based on government-issued, tamper-proof identification cards that will help employers ensure that the workers they hire are legal.”
Bush also said the bill — which the Senate will debate next week — provides “an historic opportunity to uphold America’s tradition of welcoming and assimilating immigrants and honoring our heritage as a nation built on the rule of law.”
Bush is facing a rebellion in his own party on the measure which many conservatives believe is an amnesty for lawbreakers.
“We have an obligation to solve problems that have been piling up for decades. The status quo is unacceptable. We must summon the political courage to move forward with a comprehensive reform bill,” the president said.
Sparks Will Fly
Sunday’s “Meet the Press” program on NBC will likely spark some fireworks.
The show will feature an immigration debate between arch conservative Pat Bucahnan and Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, who authored a bill that would give illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship.
Buchanan’s latest book — “State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America” — argues that illegal immigration is destroying the United States.
Gutierrez, a seven term congressman born and raised in Chicago, is outspoken about defending the rights of immigrants, including those who entered the country illegally.
Under the Gutierrez legislation, introduced with Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., illegal immigrants would have to pay $2,000, take English classes, wait six years, and leave the United States at least briefly in order to become legal permanent residents and citizens.
Illegal Poll
A poll released this week shows that a vast majority of illegal immigrants from Latin America would apply for a legal visa proposed in a pending Senate bill.
The survey made clear that the illegal immigrants would have to pay thousands of dollars in fines, pass a background check and show a work history. Eighty-three percent said they would apply for the permit, known as a “Z-visa.”
The poll also found that about 76 percent of the immigrants willing to apply for the “Z-visa” would also be “very interested” or “somewhat interested” in applying for a green card or permanent legal residency in the United States.
The poll was conducted by Bendixen & Associates at the request of New America Media, a coalition of ethnic media outlets.
Read more about the poll here.
AFL-CIO: Immigration Bill Is Anti-Family, Anti-Worker
The Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO labor union said Wednesday that an immigration bill pending in the Senate is “anti-family” and “anti-worker.”
Richard L. Trumka said the bill “abandons long-standing U.S. policy favoring the reunification of families by eliminating whole categories of family preferences.”
In addition he said it is “muddled by an absurd and mean-spirited ‘touchback’ provision and unreasonable fines.”
The “touchback” rule requires the heads of household of illegal immigrant families to return to their country of origin as part of the process to obtain permanent legal residency.
Trumka also blasted the guest worker program in the bill, saying that it “creates a situation ripe for exploitation.”
“It’s ironic - and sad - that the very bill that seeks to restore the rights and legal protections of undocumented workers already here fails to provide these most basic standards to future foreign workers, treating them instead as nothing more than fungible units of production,” he said.
White House Report: Immigrants Help U.S. Workers
Just as the Senate prepares to revisit a controversial immigration bill, the White House Council of Economic Advisers released a report Wednesday which says that U.S. native workers benefit from legal and illegal immigration.
“Immigrants tend to complement (not substitute for ) native workers, raising natives’ productivity and income,” said the report.
Other findings include:
— Immigrants are a critical part of the U.S. workforce and contribute to productivity growth and technological advancement. Immigrants make up 15% of all workers and even larger shares of certain occupations such as construction, food services and health care.
— About 40% of Ph.D. scientists working in the United States are foreign born.
— Many immigrants are entrepreneurs. The Kauffman Foundation’s index of entrepreneurial activity is nearly 40% higher for immigrants than for natives. The Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, Mo., studies and finances entrepreneurship and innovation.
— Immigrants have lower crime rates than natives. Among men aged 18 to 40, immigrants are much less likely to be incarcerated than natives.
The report states that the word “immigrant” includes both legal and illegal foreign born people.
Portman Out
The resignation of Rob Portman as director of the Office of Management and Budget means the White House will lose one of its top players in the immigration debate.
Portman, a former Ohio congressman with solid contacts on Capitol Hill, has been among the key folks on the White House team working to get the bill approved.
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow today acknowledged the loss, but said ex-Rep. Jim Nussle, President Bush’s pick to replace Portman, “brings those same talents” and “knows how to talk with Democrats and Republicans and to play it straight with them and to work constructively to try to get an immigration bill that is going to solve the host of problems that clearly were not solved between 1986 and today.”
“Jim Nussle certainly is capable,” said Snow.
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Newt Attacks McCain, Immigration Bill
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a likely GOP presidential contender, went on the offensive Tuesday against a Senate immigration bill and one of its supporters, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
Referring to the measure as the “McCain-Kennedy immigration plan,” Gingrich said in an Internet ad that the law would put millions of illegal immigrants “including potential terrorists and gang members” on a path to U.S. citizenship.
A black and white picture of a smiling McCain along with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., appears in the ad. McCain is a Republican presidential candidate.
In addition, the advertisement says that several of the Sept. 11 hijackers were in the United States illegally and that the “borders remain open to gangs, drug dealers and terrorists.”
All the Sept. 11 hijackers arrived legally to the United States, but some overstayed their visas, according to the Sept. 11 Commission, which investigated the attacks. In addition, several used false documents to obtain the visas.
To see the entire ad, click here.
McCain has defended his support of the immigration bill, saying that it does not offer amnesty, but a chance for illegal immigrants to come forward, pay a fine, learn English and meet other requirements to become legal residents.
In addition, McCain says that the bill would make the United States more secure by adding thousands of Border Patrol agents, increasing workplace enforcement, and allowing law enforcement agents to focus on criminals rather than people who are crossing the border to work and feed their families.
Richardson V. Dodd: Whose Spanish Is Better?
Democratic presidential hopefuls Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd are both fluent in Spanish, but who is the most skilled?
At a presidential forum in Washington Tuesday, Richardson jokingly boasted: “My Spanish is better than Dodd’s.” Richardson, the first Hispanic candidate for president, admitted, though, that Dodd’s Spanish is “pretty good.”
Richardson and Dodd had expected their language skill would give them an advantage at a Sept. 9 presidential debate being sponsored by Univision, the Spanish-languate television network.
But Univision has taken steps to make sure there will be what it calls “a level playing field for all the candidates …regardless of their proficiency in the Spanish language.”
Consequently, the candidates will hear the questions translated into English as they are read to the audience in Spanish, and their responses will be simultaneously translated into Spanish.
Richardson, asked Tuesday to respond to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urging immigrants to turn off Spanish TV and learn English, said he does not agree with Schwarzenegger. But, he added, “Every immigrant should learn English.”
author = Scott Shepard Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Spanish language, debate, presidential campaign
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McConnell Unsure On Immigration
The U.S. Senate’s highest ranking Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said Sunday that a major immigration bill is a “mixed picture” and that its passage is uncertain.
“There are good things in the bill, and not so good things in the bill,” he said, on CBS’s Face The Nation.
A negative element, according to McConnell, is the “Z-visa,” which critics of the bill believe amounts to amnesty. Most illegal immigrants would qualify for the visa after passing a background check and meeting other requirements.
On the plus side, McConnell cited money for border security and getting rid of the visa lottery, which gives green cards to 50,000 people a year who have applied from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
As far as the bill’s chances, McConnell said, “When we get to final passage…it’s hard to know whether the votes will be there to pass it or not.”
The measure could return to the Senate floor as early as this week.
House Votes Against “Sanctuary” Cities
The U.S. House on Friday approved an amendment that would ban cities with so called “sanctuary” policies from receiving certain homeland security money.
The amendment targets policies that discourage local police from sharing information with the federal government about illegal immigrants.
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. (pictured), who sponsored the amendment, said the 234 to 189 vote should serve as “a warning sign” to the White House and other supporters of a large immigration measure that would give illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship.
“If that legislation makes it to the House, it is in serious trouble,” said Tancredo, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination.
Tancredo has blasted the “sanctuary” policies, especially the one in San Francisco.
Earlier this year, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said that the city’s police officers and other city employees would not help federal agents in rounding up and deporting illegal immigrants.
Schwarzenegger: Turn Off Spanish TV
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a convention of Hispanic journalists this week that immigrants should avoid Spanish-language media if they want to learn English, the Associated Press reported.
“You’ve got to turn off the Spanish television set” and avoid Spanish-language television, books and newspapers, the Republican governor and immigrant from Austria said Wednesday night at the annual convention of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
“You’re just forced to speak English, and that just makes you learn the language faster,” he added, according to AP.
Schwarzenegger made the comments during a sit-down dialogue with Rick Rodriguez, executive editor of the Sacramento Bee (both pictured).
To read more, click here.
Breakfast, Prayers and Immigration
Immigration reform legislation, which earlier this week looked like it didn’t have a prayer, got a solid mention this morning from President Bush at the annual National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast.
“And I thank you for making comprehensive immigration reform your top priority,” Bush said. “I share that priority.”
Bush’s comments came on the morning after Senate leaders announced the bill, which hit a dead end last week, could be revived on the Senate floor as early as next week.
“I appreciate the fact that you understand that this debate can be emotional, and it’s complex,” Bush said, urging breakfasters to contact their lawmakers.
Bush repeated what has become his boilerplate language about immigration.
“We must help new immigrants assimilate,” he said. “That’s what has always made our nation strong.”
He said “most Americans” agree on basic immigration principles.
“Each day our nation fails to act, the problem only grows worse,” he said. “I will continue to work closely with members of both parties, to get past our differences, and pass a bill I can sign this year.”
Bush was introduced by The Rev. Luis Cortes Jr., president of Esperanza USA, a network of Hispanic religious organizations that work on social and economic issues. The group sponsors the breakfast.
“Thank you for taking a humanitarian approach to the plight of millions of people who are guilty of nothing more than the opportunities that America has provided others through the last two centuries,” Cortes told Bush. “Thank you, sir, for your courage. Thank you, sir, for your tenacity. Thank you for standing firm in your belief in the American values of democracy and opportunity.”
Bush prefaced his remarks by noting “At this breakfast we set aside our politics and come together in prayer.”
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean may not have received that memo. He offered a political message at the breakfast, touting his party’s links to Hispanics and criticizing Republicans who oppose the Bush-backed immigration bill.
“Immigration reform has shed light on the differences in the parties’ values,” he said. “While there have been those on the other side who have scapegoated and divided - scapegoated Americans and divided us - we believe that there is more that unites us than divides us.”
Dean said “there are too many in the other party who continue to stand in the way” of immigration reform.
“It is not enough to ask for a seat at the table any more,” Dean said, trolling for potential candidates. “We need you on the ticket running for office. The ticket needs to look like the rest of America, not just the backroom table.”
“We’re honored that overwhelmingly this community trusted Democrats with their support in 2006, and trusted us to change the tone in Washington,” Dean said. “And we know that we cannot take this support for granted.”
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One Million Letters For Legalization
Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo, a popular Los Angeles-based radio host, delivered to Capitol Hill Thursday what he said were 1 million letters in favor of stalled legislation that offers a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
“I stand here on behalf of those who walk with you everyday. Those who wash your dishes and your cars, who take care of your yards and clean your workplaces, who prepare and serve your food at restaurants, who clean your house and take care of your children,” he said.
Sotelo was standing near a pile of boxes and stacks of letters which he said were from legal residents and citizens.
Sens. Mel Martinez, R-Fla. (pictured), Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Robert Menendez, D-N.J., joined Sotelo at a Capitol Hill press conference.
Martinez said it was important to let lawmakers know that many Americans support the immigration bill because they were hearing from many who oppose it.
Sotelo, who is nationally syndicated, said he was once an illegal immigrant but is now a permanent legal resident and is applying for citizenship.
(photo by Rick McKay)
Sen. Martinez Recalls Immigrant Roots
After a rare visit by President Bush to the Senate Republicans’ weekly lunch to lobby for a stalled immigration bill, Sen. Mel. Martinez told reporters he was touched when Bush spoke in “very emotional tones” about “what he believes makes this country great.”
“He spoke about a young man, who was the number one graduate of his graduating class at the Coast Guard Academy, whose grandparents were migrant workers,” Martinez said. “And he said, ‘They may have been illegals for all I know, but it is a great country that can take, assimilate people and create the opportunities that will allow a young man to be and do what he did.’
“And that frankly touches my heart because it is very close to my own personal life experience,” Martinez added. Martinez, Florida’s junior senator, is the only immigrant in the Senate.
Martinez also spoke of his passion to continue working to draft an immigration bill that treats fairly illegal immigrants who are already in the country and also “allows for America to continue to be America.”
“We eat pizza, and I don’t think that’s really an original native American food, but that doesn’t make us less American,” he joked.
“As we do all these things, we really enhance what America is,” he said. “It isn’t about making or setting us apart, but it’s really about the great magic of this nation that brings people together.”
“If we resolve this immigration bill, American can get back about the business of assimilating immigrants and continuing to be the great nation that it has been,” he concluded.
Gingrich Wants to Extinguish “Immigration Conflagration”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich sent an email to supporters this week asking them to help derail a major immigration bill, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Gingirch urged recipients to call their senators because “the immigration conflagration is not yet extinguished.”
“When Washington quit work last week, it looked as though the disastrous Bush-McCain-Kennedy immigration bill was dead,” Gingrich wrote, according to the article. “As I write this, however, it is clear that the Bush administration is determined to force it through with raw power, despite the fact that a large and increasingly vocal majority of Americans oppose it.”
Gingrich, who is considering a run for the GOP presidential nomination, also called the effort a “fantasy” that could never be effectively implemented.
President Bush was headed to Capitol Hill Tuesday to have lunch with GOP senators and push the immigration legislation. The measure would offer a path to citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants, create a guest worker program, and increase border security.
‘All Dressed Up With Nowhere to Go’
The impasse on immigration reform legislation in the U.S. Senate has brought another round of doom and gloom to Mexico, a country with high hopes that many of its 10 million immigrants in the U.S. would find legal relief.
El Universal newspaper wrote in a bleak editorial this weekend that Mexicans feel “cheated” by the bill’s failure to pass last week. The paper said lawmakers in Washington “lost a golden opportunity to bring order to the border” and that it is “unrealistic to think that they will revive the dead (corpse of the bill) in the days remaining before the 2008 presidential campaign gains strength.”
In Milenio, another well-respected Mexico City daily, editorial writers are equally pessimistic. “Once again, the gringo congressmen have left us all dressed up with nowhere to go with immigration reform. Now they say, that if all goes well, they’ll debate it again in 2012, when the electoral calendars won’t disturb it. Meanwhile, our economy will continue being a disaster and we will have exported another 3 million compatriots.”
The editorial continues in a bitter, tongue-and-cheek mode, suggesting several ways to get back at the Americans, including building a “migraduct” to funnel migrants from Chiapas to the border to help Central Americans trying to get to the United States.
The editorial writers seem especially disappointed that President Bush couldn’t get his fellow Republicans to fall in line. They suggest sending Mexican legislators to Washington to give classes to their American counterparts, “so that they can learn to have respect, and vote in a bloc when they receive orders from their superiors.”
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Reid Asks for “Stronger Leadership”
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., sent a letter to the White House Monday urging President Bush to take a greater role in pushing a stalled immigration bill.
“We appreciate the efforts of you and other Republicans who have worked with us to get the bill this far. But we believe it will take stronger leadership by you to ensure that opponents of the bill do not block the path to final passage,” Reid said.
Last week, a majority of Senate Republicans voted against a procedural move to limit debate on the measure. After the vote, Reid pulled the legislation and blamed the bill’s collapse on the president.
Republicans said that Reid did not allow enough time for amendments to the legislation.
In a press release Monday, Reid said, “If we see new cooperation and a clear way forward from the Republican caucus, we will do everything possible to re-address the immigration issue.”
Bush is planning a rare trip to Capitol Hill Tuesday to have lunch with Republican senators to push the measure.
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See You At The Bill Signing
A confident President Bush told reporters Monday that the stalled immigration bill will move forward and become law.
“I believe we can get it done. I’ll see you at the bill signing,” he said.
Bush, who is traveling in Europe, made the remarks at a news briefing with Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.
Last week, a majority of Senate Republicans voted against a procedural move to limit debate on the measure. After the vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pulled the legislation and blamed the bill’s collapse on the president.
Bush said Monday that moving the bill was “going to require leadership from the Democrat leaders in the Senate, and it’s going to require me to stay engaged and work with Republicans who want a bill.”
Bush is planning a rare trip to Capitol Hill Tuesday to have lunch with Republican senators to push the measure.
“The political process sometimes isn’t pretty to look at it; there’s two steps forward, one step back. We made two steps forward on immigration, we took a step back, and now I’m going to work with those who are focused on getting an immigration bill done and start taking some steps forward again,” he said.
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White House Disappointed, Hopeful on Immigration
Dan Bartlett, counselor to President Bush, told reporters Friday that Bush was disappointed that a Senate immigration bill was pulled after a mostly partisan standoff.
“The President strongly believes that Senator (Harry) Reid ought to allow for this bill to continue to be debated, and to, at the appropriate time, go for a vote on the substance of this bill,” Bartlett said, in Heiligendamm, Germany where the president is attending the G-8 Summit.
Reid, the Senate majority leader, pulled the bill after a majority of Republicans voted against a procedural move to limit debate on the measure.
Reid blamed the president for the collapse, saying Bush did not show enough leadership to deliver GOP votes.
Despite the setback, Bartlett (shown here in a file photo) said the White House was hopeful the bill was not dead.
“Based on the latest information we have, there still is a good chance that this will move forward,” he said.
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Immigration Zingers
Senators working long days on a controversial immigration bill this week are coming up with some zingers. Here is a sample:
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., on the complicated legislative maneuvering on amendments and cloture votes: “This process makes a pretzel look relaxed.”
Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., on a surprising late night vote to sunset the guest worker program after five years: “It may be that no good can come of votes after midnight.”
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., on why Republicans were delaying a vote on a White House-supported bill: “Are we in Alice in Wonderland here?”
Sen. Jim Bunning, R-K.Y., on whether he was trying to sabotage the bill: “I’ve been trying to kill it since the beginning.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on asking for more time for debate: “Without a fair process, we will be revisiting this issue some time in the future. But I don’t know if it will be in my lifetime. And I hope to live as long as Strom.” Graham was referring to former Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina who lived to be 100 and served in the Senate for 45 years.
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ACLU Slams “Official English” Amendment
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Thursday slammed an amendment passed by the Senate that would make English the nation’s official language.
The amendment, offered by Republican James Inhofe of Oklahoma, would “punish citizens who need access to medical care and disaster relief, and it would raise new barriers to learning English,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU’s Washington legislative office.
“This country needs better access to English education for limited speakers, not a mute button on government access for millions of Americans,” she said.
Senators approved the measure late Wednesday with a vote of 64 to 33. It would establish English as the national language of the United States. The measure also says that no person has a right to have the government act in another tongue unless specifically stated by law.
Inhofe said that a great majority of Americans and a majority of Hispanics favor making English the national language, according to various polls.
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said that the amendment was divisive and would hurt people without English proficiency, making it difficult for them to receive government services, including those related to public health and safety.
Salazar offered an alternative amendment that states that English is the common language of the United States and that the government “shall preserve and enhance” the role of English, but would not establish a national tongue. That amendment passed 58 to 39.
If the Senate bill passes, lawmakers will need to consider both English amendments should they negotiate a final bill with the House, which has yet to pass an immigration bill this year.
The “Kennedy-Bush” Immigration Bill?
Senate measures are often named after their chief sponsors. Last year, a major bi-partisan immigration bill was known as McCain-Kennedy after Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
Opponents however, dubbed it the “Kennedy-Reid” bill, trying to relate it to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., a frequent target of Republican ire.
This year, however, GOP opponents of a new Senate immigration bill have taken a different tactic.
They are calling the measure the “Bush-Kennedy” bill, clearly a jab at President Bush, a fellow Republican who supports the legislation.
Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus said in a press release this week: “The more details we learn about the Kennedy-Bush amnesty bill, the less supportive members of Congress are becoming. We’re hearing from our constituents that an ‘aye’ vote for amnesty is a ‘no’ vote in November.”
Tancredo For Legal Immigration “Time Out”
Republican presidential hopeful Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado on Wednesday, re-affirmed his belief that much legal immigration to the United States should be stopped for a while.
Tancredo stunned some people with the idea during a GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire yesterday where immigration was a major topic.
“Over the years, we have had periods of very high immigration and periods of very low immigration: during the ’20s, during the ’50s. And what we did is we used that time to actually assimilate the people who had come in the big wave of immigration preceding it,” he said on CNN’s American Morning.
“In the last 40 years, we’ve had no time-out. The immigration has been massive. The assimilation has not gone on. That’s why I said a time-out. It doesn’t mean you end immigration in America. It just means a time-out. Give us time to assimilate the people who have come here,” he said.
At the debate Tancredo said “we have to stop all legal immigration except for people coming into this country as family members — immediate family members and/or refugees.”
To read more about the debate, click here.
Schwarzenegger: Eliminate H-1B Cap
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged lawmakers this week to eliminate the cap on H-1B visas for highly educated foreign workers.
“Future levels for these visas must be based on the demands of the market or this policy will strangle these important industries, forcing them overseas,” Schwarzenegger said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
A bi-partisan immigration bill, which the Senate is debating Tuesday, would raise the limit on H-1B visas from 65,000 a year to 115,000 a year and put new regulations into the program.
The Senate voted last month on an amendment to the bill that would increase the fee for an H-1B visa from $1,500 to $5,000, a move that business groups say could keep smaller businesses from obtaining foreign talent.
Schwarzenegger said he was concerned that the current bill “may make the H-1B program harder to administer, especially for smaller businesses, such as technology start-ups, and force these companies to consider moving critical functions, including product development, to facilities offshore.”
McCain Goes on Immigration Offensive
GOP presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain of Arizona strongly defended a Senate immigration bill in a speech Monday in Coral Gables, Fla.
McCain said that bill, while imperfect, “is nevertheless a serious, comprehensive and practical attempt to secure our borders, defend the rule of law, help our economy grow and make it possible for the United States to know who has entered this country illegally.”
McCain also touted the border security measures in the bill and said that fixing the immigration problem would save lives.
More than 200 illegal immigrants died crossing the border into Arizona last year including a 2-year-old girl with “thick brown hair and eyes the color of chocolate” and a 16-year-old carrying a Bible, he said.
“These people are also God’s children who wanted simply to be Americans. And we cannot forget that humanity God commands of us as we seek a remedy to this problem,” he said.
The measure would give most illegal immigrants a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship.
Democratic Hopefuls Reject “Official English”
Nearly all Democratic presidential hopefuls reject making English the nation’s official language. At a debate Sunday night, only Mike Gavel, a former senator from Alaska, raised his hand in support of such a measure.
“Yeah. We speak English. That doesn’t mean we can’t encourage other languages. I speak French and English. People speak Spanish and English. But the official language of the United States of America is English,” Gavel said.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said that making English the nation’s official language could have negative consequences.
“That means in a place like New York City you can’t print ballots in any other language. That means you can’t have government pay for translators in hospitals so when somebody comes in with some sort of emergency there’s nobody there to help translate what their problem is for the doctor,” she said.
Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, who is fluent in Spanish, also opposed making English the official language.
“I’m proud of the fact I speak two languages. But we ought to be encouraging more of that in the country and not talking about how we have one official language in our nation. That’s not helping our country,” he said.
In addition, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, said that the question about official English from moderator Wolf Blitzer of CNN was designed to be divisive.
“Everybody is going to learn to speak English if they live in this country. The issue is not whether or not future generations of immigrants are going to learn English. The question is: How can we come up with both a legal, sensible immigration policy,” he said. “And when we get distracted by those kinds of questions, I think we do a disservice to the American people.”
This Immigration Law Has Teeth, Bush Official Says
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff argued Friday that his agency has advanced technology and the “intent” that would enable the U.S. to regain control of its borders if pending bipartisan immigration bill passes in Congress.
Acknowledging that the last major reform, passed in 1986, led to increased illegal immigration, Chertoff told a group of reporters that the government now has electronic systems to check fingerprints and verify identification on a massive scale.
A temporary worker program—not included in the 1986 law—would relieve the economic pressure to hire illegal workers, the Homeland Security chief said. And he pointed to recent workplace raids as evidence of tougher enforcement of the law.
But as for the future, he offered no promises: “Nobody can promise that a future president and a future president won’t do something different.”
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McCain Heads to Miami
Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, is planning a speech on immigration Monday at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.
McCain has been feeling the heat from the right for his support of a major immigration bill that would give illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship and create a large guest worker program.
The measure also includes border security measures such as hiring thousands of Border Patrol guards and building fences on the Southern border.
After charges earlier this year that McCain was avoiding the immigration issue, the senator has been dealing with it head-on lately, including an appearance earlier this week on Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” where he defended the legislation.
