Fri, Jun. 22, 2007
Hutchison refuses to back immigration bill
By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Houston Chronicle

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON WASHINGTON -- Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who has been pressured heavily by the White House and Republican leadership to support a sweeping immigration overhaul, announced Thursday that she will vote against reviving the bill when it returns to the Senate floor next week. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, also said he will oppose bringing up a bill he deems "deeply flawed."

What's new

As No. 4 in the Senate GOP hierarchy, Hutchison is the highest-ranking Republican to break with her leadership on a domestic policy issue of major importance to President Bush. She denounced the legislation as an unacceptable amnesty offer to illegal immigrants. The opposition from Cornyn was expected.

Why it matters

Immigration reform has deeply split the Republican Party, pitting business interests that favor the Senate bill against a restive conservative base that views it as nothing more than a repeat of the 1986 amnesty. The bill pairs increased border and interior enforcement with a new guest-worker program, and most controversially, would place millions of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. Its supporters in the White House and on Capitol Hill had held some hope of persuading Hutchison to back the key procedural vote. She closed the door firmly on that prospect, though she held out the slender possibility that she could support the bill on final passage if it is amended to her liking. Hutchison is adamant that illegal immigrant adults be required to return to their home country temporarily within two years of getting a visa, saying such a requirement would "strip the amnesty out of the bill." But Hutchison said her amendment is unlikely to pass. And she does not support a weaker version, expected to be rolled into an amendment by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., which would limit the return-home mandate to heads of household rather than all work-eligible adults


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