Thread: FAIR Assessment of the 110th Congress

New Congressional Leadership Means Uncertain Path for Immigration Policy in the 110th Congress

Many Newly Elected Democrats Ran on a Platform of Immigration Enforcement, Not Amnesty




When the 110th Congress convenes in January it will be under new Democratic leadership. Angry and frustrated by a seeming lack of progress in the war in Iraq, a series of corruption and other scandals, skyrocketing energy costs, the erosion of the middle class, and historically low approval ratings for the president, the public chose to make sweeping changes in the elections of 2006.

With both Houses of Congress now led by the Democrats there is likely to be a change in direction in how just about every issue of importance to the American public is handled, and immigration will be no exception. While some pundits immediately interpreted the results of the elections as a green light to proceed with legislation to enact an illegal alien amnesty and increases in overall immigration, early signs indicate that the Democrats are not as eager to venture into that snake pit as the open borders lobby might hope.

Changes in the House

Shortly after the elections, incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) disclosed a long list of priorities that she expects to address in the early days of the new Congress. Notably absent from that list is any sweeping legislation dealing with immigration policy. While the new Speaker and many of the Democrats in key leadership positions may be ideologically committed to amnesty for illegal aliens, she proved in the last election to be an astute politician. Having finally wrested power back from the Republicans after 12 years, it is far from certain that Pelosi and others in the Democratic leadership are prepared to risk it all on an illegal alien amnesty and immigration expansion that is certain to anger the very voters who returned them to power.

The willingness of the public to place its confidence in Democratic leadership has been widely attributed to decisions by Pelosi and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) to recruit centrist candidates in this election cycle. Emanuel himself is a veteran political strategist who helped position Bill Clinton as a centrist Democrat when he first ran for president in 1992.

The political difference between the Democratic Class of 2006 and the old guard Democrats in the House is illustrated by their approaches to immigration policy. There can be little doubt that Pelosi and the new House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) personally favor amnesty for tens of millions of illegal aliens. However, the newly elected members who put the Democrats in the majority nearly all ran on a platform of immigration enforcement. Not a single Democrat representing a district that changed hands in the last election ran for office promising amnesty, guest worker programs and higher levels of immigration. In fact, nearly all of them promised voters that when they got to Washington they would work to enforce our borders and crack down on illegal immigration. These new Democratic members will join an already existing corps of Democratic House members, often referred to as the Blue Dogs, who have supported immigration enforcement efforts and opposed amnesty and guest worker schemes.

FAIR has already begun reaching out to incoming House members and developing relations with them and their staffs. Working with these new members and existing Democratic allies will be critical to FAIR’s strategy in the 110th Congress, as many in leadership positions are likely to be less sympathetic to efforts to secure our borders and enforce immigration laws.

Even as we prepare and look forward to working with many of the new members of the House, FAIR would like to pay tribute to those who advanced the cause of true immigration reform over the past several years, especially out-going Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), who was responsible for passage of landmark legislation in the House.

While Sensenbrenner and other Republicans (too numerous to list) will be in the minority in the upcoming Congress, their presence and influence will continue to be significant when immigration legislation is taken up.

Changes in the Senate

Democrats will also take control of the Senate in January, but the impact on immigration policy in that body will not be as significant. Unlike the House, which under Republican leadership passed a strong immigration enforcement bill, the Senate backed President Bush’s plan for a massive illegal alien amnesty and guest worker program. Like his predecessor, Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), the expected new Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is a strong proponent of an illegal alien amnesty and will likely favor legislation that favors that approach.

What has changed significantly since the election is the position of many Republican members. In 2006, many GOP senators came under strong pressure from the White House to back the president’s guest worker amnesty bill, against their own better judgment. With Bush now the lamest of lame ducks — entering the final two years of his presidency and soundly repudiated by the voters — many Republicans are likely to feel less constrained in opposing ill-advised immigration policy directives from the White House.

Like many of the freshmen House Democrats, many of the incoming new Senate Democrats also took strong pro-enforcement positions during their campaigns for office. This new class will be joining a significant minority of incumbent Democrats, like Byron Dorgan (N.D.), Robert Byrd (W.V.), and Ben Nelson (Neb.), who were vocal opponents of the guest worker amnesty bill in the last Congress. Together with newly emancipated Republicans, they could form the nucleus of a pro-enforcement bloc in the Senate.

Overall Outlook

Given the changes in congressional leadership, there will be new challenges for FAIR and the immigration reform movement to confront. The pro-amnesty and open borders lobby is certain to press their agenda even harder in the coming session, but as noted above, they, too, face many obstacles to achieving their objectives.

FAIR believes that with strong public support, we can muster the political coalition not only to block efforts to legalize millions of illegal aliens and throw open America’s borders, but to enact positive legislation in the 110th Congress. It is unlikely that we will see the kind of sweeping legislation that was approved by the House in the last session, but efforts to secure our borders and crackdown on employers who hire illegal aliens is well within the realm of possibility.

What is certain is that all of us will need to redouble our efforts. Overwhelming public opposition prevented Congress and the Bush Administration from approving a guest worker amnesty bill in 2006, and the same sort of public pressure will be necessary again in 2007. FAIR pledges to work tirelessly to thwart the opposition’s efforts, while at the same time moving forward on the sort of immigration reforms that the vast majority of Americans support, no matter which party is in power. Once again, it promises to be a difficult battle, but with your support the public interest can prevail.

Excellent article with good points!
2007 is going to be a very interesting year in DC and we'll be watching and listening closely.