GOP foes trade fire on immigration
McCain questions Romney's opposition to Senate proposal

By Christi Parsons
Tribune national correspondent
Published June 5, 2007


MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Amid growing concerns among conservatives over securing the country's borders, Sen. John McCain on Monday clashed with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney about whether the current Senate plan to reform immigration law will work.

On the eve of a Republican presidential debate here, McCain, speaking in Florida, suggested that Romney and his other GOP rivals for the presidency are exacerbating the problem by opposing the "imperfect but effective" compromise solution now on the table -- a view that echoes President Bush's recent lobbying efforts for the plan.

In an address to business leaders in Miami, McCain charged that the bill's opponents are making America's borders less secure by insisting on tough reforms that cannot pass Congress.

"The choice is between doing something imperfect but effective and achievable, and doing nothing," the Arizona Republican told members of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. "I would hope that any candidate for president would not suggest doing nothing. And I would hope they wouldn't play politics for their own interests, if the cost of their ambition was to make this problem even harder to solve."

Romney fired back immediately, arguing in a statement that McCain's approach "falls short of a workable solution to an important problem" and calling for a plan that does not provide "special incentives" for immigrants who disobey U.S. law.

The exchange took place as the Republican candidates prepare for a debate at St. Anselm College likely to focus on immigration, now emerging as a hot-button issue for conservatives looking to define their policy agenda for Congress and for the 2008 presidential race.

Polls suggest that immigration is one of the few issues rivaling the Iraq war among the concerns of GOP voters in New Hampshire.

Even as Bush steps up his sales pitch for the bipartisan immigration plan, support for his position appears to be falling away. Some Republican elected officials typically loyal to the president disagree with him over the matter.



The bill before the Senate would toughen border security and require a verification system to keep American employers from hiring undocumented workers. The bill's most controversial provision would eventually offer legal status to many of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country.

The Senate will resume consideration of the bill Tuesday, taking up a slew of proposed amendments.

Supporters of the basic plan, including McCain, note that the proposed pathway to legalization would be eligible only to those who pass criminal background checks, pay fines and taxes and learn English.

"The situation as it currently exists is de facto amnesty," McCain said Monday. "These people are here in numbers too large, diffuse and concealed to round up and deport, which even critics concede is impractical. ... And we won't have any idea how many of them are simply here to earn a living and how many are here planning an attack."

In personal entreaties over the past week, Bush has urged lawmakers not to "sacrifice the good for the sake of the perfect."

The logic tracks closely with McCain's, emphasizing a parallel between the Republican hopeful and the Republican president at a time when that association could be harmful to his White House candidacy.

The more conservatives learn about the plan, predicts one conservative researcher, the less they will like it.

"It's clear to any reasonable person that this is amnesty," said Brian Darling, director of Senate relations for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. "It's forgiving individuals for being present in the country illegally and working in the country illegally as recently as five months ago."

That, he said, could come back to haunt McCain.

"You have a good percentage of conservatives who care about immigration and want tough border security," said Darling.

Romney, meanwhile said Monday that his opposition to the bill is "a matter of principled disagreement."

"In reforming our immigration system, we must do so in a way that rewards immigrants who obey the laws and guards against providing special incentives for those who show no regard for them," he said.

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cparsons@tribune.com



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