Thread: Texas' senior senator facing a hard call

Texas' senior senator facing a hard call

GOP opposes citizenship bill, but Hutchison has backed the idea in the past

By GARY MARTIN
WASHINGTON BUREAU of the Houston Chronicle

Dec. 7, 2010, 9:24PM

WASHINGTON - With a divisive immigration proposal nearing a showdown in the Senate, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is caught in a political tug of war between highly vocal immigration supporters and hard-line conservatives who vow political retribution if she votes with the Democratic majority.

The subject of these political passions is the innocently named DREAM Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for children who were brought illegally into the United States but later excel in school or join the military.

Hutchison, R-Dallas, who has supported similar legislation in the past, is one of a half-dozen Republican lawmakers targeted by Democrats, Latino groups and organized labor, who see her as a swing vote in what is expected to be a close final tally.

"We are going to need a handful of Republicans to compensate for the Democrats that, quite frankly, we have given up on," said Frank Sharry, executive director America's Voice, a pro-immigration advocacy group.

But Hutchison, who has not announced publicly whether she will seek another term in 2012, is in a political predicament following the contentious GOP Texas gubernatorial primary defeat where she was tarnished as a Washington insider.

"She's in deep trouble" in her own party, said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political science professor. "If she wants to run again, she's going to have a tough primary race."

Sabato said Texas Republican primary voters "are some of the most conservative voters in the country — bar none."

It is those same Texas Republicans who long have questioned her pro-choice position on abortion and support for stem cell research.

While Hutchison has been an effective senator who has voted consistently conservative on most issues, "there are certain factions of the party that have been suspicious of her since Day 1," said David Crockett, a Trinity University political science professor.
Vote could come today

The Senate could vote as early as today on the DREAM Act, formally called the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act. About 2.1 million people brought to this country before age 16 by illegal immigrant parents would be eligible for legal status under the bill, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan policy group. The bill requires two years of college education or military service and no criminal record.

Hutchison is in a political squeeze.

Conservative groups like Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee and NumbersUSA say political punishment is in store for GOP lawmakers who support what they call "amnesty."

"What kind of politician would be that callous and destructive to her own constituents?" asked Roy Beck, founder of NumbersUSA, which advocates tighter immigration controls.
Hutchison targeted

On the other side of the debate, a pro-DREAM Act radio ad campaign last week targeted Hutchison and lawmakers in Maine, Nevada and Florida aired last week in Houston, Miami, Las Vegas and Portland.

Pro-DREAM Act protesters were arrested last week at the offices of Hutchison and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. And a San Antonio student hunger strike over Hutchison's stance is in its 28th day.

Early indications are that Hutchison will be a hard sell for immigration advocates. The senator says she does not support the current version of the plan because it goes beyond citizenship status for students and could include parents and other adults.

"The current legislation would include green cards and citizenship, which under present law would follow with amnesty for those who came here illegally as adults," Hutchison said in a statement.

Political experts say her final vote may depend, to some degree, on her future political plans.

"If she's going to retire, she can do whatever she wants, but if she wants to win a Republican primary in Texas, then a 'no' vote would be advisable," Sabato said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 29042.html

added to the homepage

http://www.alipac.us/article5914.html

My lame attempt at a parody song ala Ray Stevens:

"Sanchez, I'm depending on you son.
I brought us to the US,
It's up to you to do the res'.

Sanchez, I'm depending on you son,
to pull whole family through.
My son it's all left up to you."

You would almost believe that the Houston Chron benefits financially from the ILLEGALS? The Chron comes across as the typical Special Interest Group or an Elitist Political Contributor wanting their self-serving agenda delivered by their politicians. These children have only their ILLEGAL parents to blame; they became ILLEGALS when their parents entered the U.S. as ILLEGALS and setup their own Children as ILLEGALS.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 29042.html

Here is a story out of Dallas

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-220711.html

Sorry, I am more concerned about my family: my children and grandchildren receiving their education, ability to provide for their families, their security and not supporting ILLEGALS and their anchors via our taxes.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 29042.html