Thread: Immigration Overhaul Takes a Back Seat as Campaign Season Be

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/08/us/po ... immig.html

September 8, 2006
Immigration Overhaul Takes a Back Seat as Campaign Season Begins
By RACHEL L. SWARNS
WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 — House Republicans vowed Thursday to move swiftly to pass a series of border security measures by the end of September. But they made it clear they would not heed President Bush’s call to create a guest worker plan or grant legal status to the nation’s illegal immigrants before the November midterm elections.

The House speaker, Representative J. Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois, and others said House leaders would hold a hearing — scheduled for Tuesday — to discuss strategies to secure the border and then present a package of legislation, perhaps as early as Wednesday.

Mr. Hastert said House Republicans would continue their discussions with the Senate in an effort to come to a consensus about overhauling immigration laws, but he emphasized that they would focus first on what could be accomplished this month before Congress recesses. He said the initiatives would emerge from hearings held around the country in August.

“Before you have a guest worker program or any other program, you need to heal the wound or stop the bleeding,” Mr. Hastert said at a news conference. “We need to solve the first problems first.”

“We’re at war,” he added. “Our borders are a sieve. We need to stop the bleeding.”

After he spoke, hundreds of immigrants rallied outside the Capitol, waving American flags and warning lawmakers that they would be held accountable at the polls if they did not take steps to legalize the more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

But the political potency of such marches, which drew hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the spring, seemed to be waning. Organizers here had predicted hundreds of thousands of demonstrators on Thursday, but it appeared that only several thousand showed up. Rallies in Phoenix and Batavia, Ill., this week also drew smaller crowds than had been predicted.

Lily Najera, a 19-year-old community college student from El Salvador, said she was surprised by the low turnout.

“I don’t know if people are losing hope because they don’t see any progress,” said Ms. Najera, who attended the rallies in the spring.

The prospects for passage of the House border security package in the Senate remained uncertain. Senate leaders have acknowledged that their bill, which would put the majority of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship in addition to tightening the border, will probably not become law before November.

Senator Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, the majority leader, said this week that it would be “next to impossible” for Congress to pass such a bill in the next three weeks. Amy Call, a spokeswoman for Mr. Frist, said Senate Republicans would be willing to consider the border security initiatives proposed by the House.

“Securing the border is a key responsibility,” Ms. Call said Thursday. “We’ll be interested to see what they bring forward.”

Senator Mel Martinez of Florida, a Republican champion of the Senate legislation, argued, however, that border security by itself was not enough. He said a mechanism like a guest worker program to create a legal pathway into the country was an essential component of any plan intended to deter immigrants from illegally crossing from Mexico into the United States.

“That may sound good politically speaking,” Mr. Martinez said of the House plan. “But I think we need a sincere, comprehensive approach to the problem. That’s what I would be insisting on, that we do provide for some legal pathway to enter the country.”

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, assailed the House plan as little more than political posturing on the part of House Republicans.

“Secretary Chertoff, White House officials responsible for homeland security and every expert agree that you can’t secure our borders without breaking the cycle of illegality for the millions who are already here,” said Mr. Kennedy, referring to Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security.

“The president understands this,” Mr. Kennedy said, “and should step in to help his colleagues see the shortsightedness of their actions.”

Lakiesha R. Carr contributed reporting from Washington.

Well, Martinez is a traitor.

Kennedy...true to form.

Go Hastert....GO GO GO!!

Hold firm; put on the pressure; lobby the House Bill.

Then shove it down the throat of the US Senate until they are made to swallow.