Thread: White House officials duck immigration hearing

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www.shns.com

White House officials duck immigration hearing

By MICHAEL DOYLE
Fresno Bee
26-JUL-05

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has clammed up on immigration, just as Congress starts to seriously debate it.

With Republicans bitterly divided over the issue, the administration retreated at the last minute from a high-profile congressional hearing Tuesday. The unexpected withdrawal threw off senators from both parties, and potentially undermined President Bush's own stated commitment to immigration reform.

"We're going to do our work," said Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, "and when the administration is ready to chime in, we'll be ready to listen."

Massachusetts Democrat Edward Kennedy, an active player in immigration legislation, added that he was "disappointed" in the administration's no-show approach. Lobbyists crowded into the hearing room speculated that the absence meant the White House was either leery of taking sides or convinced no bill would actually move this year.

Specter, though, insisted that his goal remains "having legislation enacted this year," and he declared his intention to mark up an immigration bill after the August congressional recess. Congress will be particularly busy then, as Specter will also be overseeing the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for John Roberts.

"The absence of the administration officials will not slow us down," Specter vowed. "In due course, they will have their input."

The two top administration officials scheduled to appear at the morning hearing _ Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao _ did not send replacement speakers, nor did they provide written testimony. Last week, when the White House drew similar criticism for skipping a scheduled judiciary committee hearing on the anti-terrorism USA Patriot Act, written testimony was presented.

Tuesday marked the first time the full Judiciary Committee had scheduled a hearing on immigration since May 2002.

Lawmakers have introduced multiple competing immigration reform bills. The so-called AgJobs bill, backed by the United Farm Workers, the Fresno, Calif.-based Nisei Farmers League and others, would offer legal status and the eventual prospect of U.S. citizenship to several hundred thousand farm workers now in this country illegally.

Another big bill, co-authored by Kennedy and Arizona Republican John McCain, would likewise permit illegal immigrants now in this country to obtain a temporary visa. This bill, however, would not be limited to farm workers. To obtain permanent legal status, the illegal immigrants would have to pass background checks and pay back taxes as well as fines of $2,000 or more.

Kennedy and McCain say the promise of U.S. residency is the only reasonable magnet for an illegal immigrant population estimated to be upward of 11 million people.

"The reality is that 11 million people aren't going to come out from the shadows simply in order to be deported," McCain said, dismissing as impossible what he dubbed a "report to deport" scenario.

Adding ammunition, the liberal Center for American Progress calculated in a report issued Tuesday that it would cost the United States $206 billion over five years to pursue a policy of deporting every illegal immigrant now in the country.

A third competing bill, introduced last week, focuses more on enforcement with provisions like adding 10,000 more detention beds to hold illegal immigrants and hiring 10,000 more agents to enforce existing laws against hiring illegal immigrants. Unlike the AgJobs and Kennedy-McCain bills, this legislation would still require illegal immigrants now in the United States to return to their native country before seeking legal U.S. residency.

"That's the time-honored and legal method for doing this today," Arizona Republican Jon Kyl said.

At a White House ceremony in January 2004, Bush declared his own support for immigration reform. In the 18 months since, though, the administration has not proposed any specific legislative language. Bush himself has largely avoided the topic, even as vocal GOP conservatives have vigorously denounced any plan that could be construed as "amnesty." The last White House press release focusing on immigration reform is dated March 6, 2004.

www.washingtonpost.com

Mute on Immigration


Tuesday, July 26, 2005; Page A18

ABRUPTLY -- so abruptly that the White House press office appeared not to know about it -- the administration withdrew its two witnesses, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao, yesterday from today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on comprehensive immigration reform. No explanation was given. A better metaphor for the White House's inability to articulate an immigration policy would be hard to find: So divided is the administration that its leading members aren't even allowed to talk about the subject in public.

The absence of the administration won't diminish the significance of today's hearings, however. Despite the coming August recess and the Judiciary Committee's preoccupation with a Supreme Court nomination, four senators have now put their names on two serious pieces of immigration legislation. Pressure from them, as well as from a host of other senators from both parties who back immigration reform, seems to be pushing the issue forward. More to the point, the two bills provide a fairly good summary of where the sides in the immigration debate stand.


Both bills propose a guest worker program, tamper-proof forms of identity for all visa-holders and more money for border security. But the measure that will appeal most to the immigration restrictionists was introduced by Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and John Cornyn (R-Tex.). In essence, their bill would allow people to come from abroad and work here for up to two years before returning; would require illegal immigrants already here to return home before applying to join that program; and would add 10,000 new Border Patrol officers, 1,250 customs officers, more jail space and $5 billion worth of high-tech spending to improve border control.

Supporters of the opposing bill, introduced by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), believe the Kyl-Cornyn proposal is unrealistic. Mr. McCain points out that people who have been in this country for decades illegally will not go home voluntarily if they aren't convinced they'll be able to come back -- and that even if it worked, any program that abruptly ejected all 10 million estimated illegal immigrants could end up "wrecking America's economy." For that reason, the McCain-Kennedy bill requires illegals to pay a fine and back taxes and return to the back of the immigration queue, but it ultimately allows them to apply for legal status. The two senators argue that this is not an amnesty, because it requires a recognition of wrongdoing. They also argue that their bill, which creates a longer, more flexible temporary work visa, will encourage more people to cross the border legally. They are probably right.

It is possible, of course, that a compromise could be found, and indeed the outline of one is visible: It would contain high levels of enforcement; new funds for the borders and for identity cards; a realistic temporary visa program; and some means of legalizing those who are here without granting them a free pass. But no grand compromise will occur without political momentum and political leadership, from the strangely silent White House as well as Congress.

"The reality is that 11 million people aren't going to come out from the shadows simply in order to be deported," McCain said, dismissing as impossible what he dubbed a "report to deport" scenario.

now this is really a bright man!! the "reality is" had Congress implemented proper border patrol there wouldn't be "11 million" illegal aliens in this country anyway

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