Democrats face uphill climb on illegal immigration AMNESTY
Posted on Wednesday, October 14 @ 12:31:03 EDT
Topic: Democrat Democrats illegal immigration
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 A small cadre of Democrats on Tuesday continued
to push Congress to take up a major immigration reform bill even though
the issue has all but evaporated from the majority’s agenda.
At an afternoon rally in front of the Capitol, Rep. Luis Gutierrez
(D-Ill.), the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s
immigration task force, said an immigration overhaul is long overdue.
“We simply cannot wait any longer for a bill that keeps our
families together, protects our workers and allows a pathway to
legalization for those who have earned it,” Gutierrez said.
Subjects: illegal immigration, illegal alien, illegal immigrant, Hispanic Caucus, legislation, path to citizenship, legalization, amnesty, bill, comprehensive, immigration reform
By Jared Allen
10/14/09 06:04 AM ET
The Hill
Hopes for action on legislation to create a
pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants have
steadily eroded since President Barack
Obama twice delayed a White House immigration summit and his attention became all but monopolized on healthcare reform.
Gutierrez, who has questioned Obama’s commitment to the issue, on
Tuesday said: “It is time we had a workable plan making its way through
Congress that recognizes the vast contributions of immigrants to this
country and that honors the American Dream.”
At the same time, however, even Gutierrez has yet to introduce a bill.
The Illinois Democrat has been intent on including as many
Republican-friendly provisions as he can swallow in order to attract
some GOP support, and the plan he outlined on Tuesday includes
provisions for enhancing border security and employment verification
systems, both of which he said will reduce illegal immigration.
But it remains unclear whether any Republicans will step out to
support immigration reform after a 2007 bipartisan effort collapsed
under the stress of conservative criticism.
While the issue no longer dominates the conservative airwaves, it
remains a political lightning rod for many on the right. The
now-infamous “You lie!” outburst of Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) came in
response to Obama’s pledge that no illegal immigrants will be covered
under the government-funded portion of his healthcare plan.
For the time being, Democrats seem to be the more immovable obstacle.
Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Xavier Becerra (Calif.), the only
Hispanic member of the House leadership team, said the urgency for
immigration reform hasn’t subsided, but acknowledged that it has been
overshadowed by more pressing matters.
“There’s a daily urgency,” Becerra said. “The stories continue to
come out about children who are separated from their parents, people
dislodged from their workplace that they’ve been in for over a decade …
The drumbeat hasn’t diminished one bit.”
He suggested a busy House calendar is part of the problem.
“What we have found,” Becerra continued, “is that we’re
encountering calendar issues with some of these big, heavy, but very
important policy issues that we’re confronting … It’s just a matter of
finding the space on the calendar when you deal with the economy, jobs
and healthcare.”
Yet the House schedule in recent weeks has shortened.
House leaders have slashed a number of Mondays off of the upcoming
legislative calendar, and have long since abandoned Fridays as days
when the House meets to consider legislation.
With the House unable to reach a consensus on its own approach to
healthcare reform, and with a number of Democrats wanting to wait even
longer for the Senate to finish its bill, leaders have been struggling
to find enough reasons to keep members in town for four days at a time.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said immigration reform could come
after healthcare, but acknowledged the more likely possibility was for
leaders to put it on next year’s agenda.
Proponents of comprehensive immigration reform like Schakowsky and
Gutierrez had pressed for action in Obama’s first year, knowing that
the emergence of an issue like immigration in an election year could
make GOP support unattainable and also spell trouble for conservative
Democrats.
Forced to scratch their original game plan, immigration reform
backers are now hoping that Republicans in states with significant
percentages of Latino voters will feel pressure to support, rather than
shun, a pathway-to-citizenship bill, and that a reform bill will earn
enough GOP support to offset the likely significant defections from
Southern Democrats.
“We’ll see how controversial it ends up being,” Schakowsky said.
“There are lots of Republicans in districts that, if not now, will soon
be relying on citizen immigrants to reelect them.”
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