Thread: House immigration panel shift highlights large divide

From: Recorednet.com

The upheaval of the 2010 midterm elections shifted the chairmanship of the House’s immigration committee from Silicon Valley’s Zoe Lofgren to Simi Valley’s Elton Gallegly.

While both representatives hail from California, the committee’s direction will be strikingly different.

Under Gallegly, a Republican, the House Judiciary Committee’s immigration panel is likely to focus on enforcement issues - cracking down on immigrants illegally crossing the border, penalizing employers who hire undocumented immigrants and preserving jobs for American workers.

Lofgren, a Democrat, focused on reforming the immigration system - reducing the backlog of citizenship applications, speeding up the visa process and offering citizenship to immigrant children.

The shift diminishes expectations that comprehensive immigration reform - once a top priority of President Barack Obama - will be enacted in the current Congress.

It also highlights the enormous divide, both nationally and within California, over immigration.

The panel, a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, is the hub of all immigration-related legislation in the House. Its members also include Reps. Dan Lungren, R-Gold River, and Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles.

In conservative-leaning Simi Valley, concerns over undocumented workers prompted the City Council to mandate a system to check the immigration status of all new city workers. In Democratic-leaning Silicon Valley, where many high-tech firms employ foreign workers, the San Jose Police Department recently affirmed the city’s refusal to arrest residents solely based on their immigration status.

“Californians have passed some of the most restrictive anti-immigrant legislation, Propositions 187 and 227, while also championing immigrant rights,â€

POLITICS: Focus shifts on House immigration committee
New chairman takes sharp policy turn


By CASSIE MYERS
Saturday, February 26, 2011 6:30 pm | 1 Comment

The upheaval of the 2010 midterm elections shifted the chairmanship of the immigration committee in the House of Representatives from Silicon Valley's Zoe Lofgren to Simi Valley's Elton Gallegly.

Although both representatives hail from the same state, the committee's direction will be strikingly different.

Under Gallegly, a Republican, the House Judiciary Committee's immigration panel is likely to focus on enforcement issues ---- cracking down on immigrants illegally crossing the border, penalizing employers who hire illegal immigrants and preserving jobs for American workers.

Gallegly also has been a strong proponent of a controversial plan to eliminate automatic citizenship for American-born children of illegal immigrants.

Lofgren, a Democrat, focused on reforming the immigration system ---- reducing the backlog of citizenship applications, speeding up the visa process and offering citizenship to immigrant children.

The shift diminishes expectations that comprehensive immigration reform ---- once a top priority of President Barack Obama ---- will be enacted in the current Congress.

It also highlights the enormous divide, both nationally and within California, over immigration.

In conservative-leaning Simi Valley, concerns over illegal immigrants prompted the City Council to mandate a system to check the immigration status of all new city workers. In Democratic-leaning Silicon Valley, where many high-tech firms employ foreign workers, the San Jose Police Department recently affirmed the city's refusal to arrest residents solely based on their immigration status.

"Californians have passed some of the most restrictive anti-immigrant legislation ---- Proposition 187 and 227, while also championing immigrant rights," explained Roberto Gonzales, a professor of social welfare at the University of Washington. "As such, Californians see immigration as both a threat and benefit to (their) economy and culture."

State a microcosm

California is a microcosm of the nation's debate over immigration. The state has 2.6 million illegal immigrants, more than 20 percent of the nation's total, according to a 2010 Pew Hispanic Center study.

Gallegly and Lofgren ---- both House veterans ---- have shared flights home to California during the 16 years they've been colleagues, and Lofgren described their relationship as "cordial and polite."

Nevertheless, they fundamentally disagree on immigration.

Gallegly was named one of the "Top Ten Immigration Hawks" by Human Events magazine in 2006. He co-sponsored a bill making English the national language, and in 1996 he wrote an amendment allowing states to deny public education to the children of illegal immigrants.

Lofgren, a former professor of immigration law at Santa Clara University, chaired the panel for three years under the Democratic majority. Her tenure brought media attention to the committee, especially during the testimony of television comedian Stephen Colbert, who spoke of his one-day experience as a field worker.

"I am confident that we don't see the question of immigration reform in the same way," Lofgren said. "I think that primarily (the Republican leadership's) focus will be on increased enforcement ... and I would say you're only enforcing the broken system."

Gallegly declined to be interviewed.

An immigration hub

The panel, a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, is the hub of all immigration-related legislation in the House. Its members also include Californians Dan Lungren, R-Gold River, and Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles.

Gallegly's first two hearings focused on workplace enforcement. The committee held a recent hearing about E-Verify, a computer program used by some employers to check the legal status of their employees, which Gallegly would like to see mandatory for all employers.

"I have long said that the way to solve the problem of illegal immigration is fairly simple," he said in a statement. "First, we must enforce our laws and secure the border. Second, we must remove the magnets that encourage illegal immigration. And finally, we must remove the benefits that make it easy for illegals to stay in this country."

In Washington, the transfer of power from Lofgren to Gallegly has pleased groups that advocate tough measures to stop illegal immigration.

"We're feeling very positive about his leadership," said Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

"He has consistently supported policies about enforcing (existing laws) and consistently opposed granting amnesty to illegal aliens. We certainly expect that (he will) hold the administration accountable,'' Mehlman said.

Right of citizenship

Immigration advocates worry that the new Congress will focus on enforcement and chip away at constitutional protections.

"The Republican leadership, which is now in charge of the House Immigration Subcommittee, had made it very clear what its priorities are: an enforcement-only approach and to deny U.S. citizenship to babies born in America based on their parents' immigration status," said Maria Machuca, communications director of the United Farm Workers of America.

The 14th Amendment guarantees the right of citizenship to all children born in the U.S., regardless of their parents' immigration status.

The 143-year-old law has become a hot-button issue in the last few months, with TV pundits such as Fox News' Glenn Beck warning people about "anchor babies," his term for children of immigrants, which stems from a belief that immigrant women use these children as "anchors" or a way to root themselves in the United States.

Gallegly wrote a bill in 2009 that would ensure citizenship only to children whose mothers are U.S. citizens.

Democrats do not believe that the law will be changed. That would involve amending the Constitution, which requires a two-thirds vote of Congress and approval by three-quarters of the states.

"The 14th Amendment was the product of the most damaging war in American history and one of the major positive outcomes of that terrible fight," Lofgren said, describing the idea of amending it as "disturbing." Bringing up the topic in this Congress, Lofgren said, "only has the capacity to spread division and animosity."

Ideological divide

The committee's new direction stems in part from an ideological divide regarding the effect of illegal immigration on the economy.

California has more illegal immigrants in the work force than any other state ---- approximately 1.9 million, according to the Pew study. It also has among the highest unemployment rates in the country at 12.5 percent in December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Gallegly believes that illegal immigrants are taking jobs Americans would hold.

"Millions of illegal immigrants hold jobs," he said in a statement at the committee's first hearing. "Even when low-skilled Americans can find jobs, their wages are depressed by illegal and other low-skilled (immigrants)."

Lofgren believes that illegal immigrants take jobs Americans won't touch.

"Even though this is a very bad economy, we have not seen Americans signing up to be migrant farmworkers," she said. "And there are about three other jobs (held by Americans) dependent on that farmworker."

Lofgren does see some areas of compromise, such as fixing a law that makes it difficult for Americans in combat to file for permanent resident status for their immigrant spouses.

Lofgren introduced a measure, co-sponsored by Gallegly, that would provide an extension to the filing period.

The two also have agreed on the issue of H-1B visas, which allow highly skilled immigrants to stay in the U.S. Both Gallegly and Lofgren have called for reform of the system while advocating the importance of highly skilled foreign workers.

Even without compromise, Lofgren believes that the minority will have some power.

"Certainly we haven't lost our vote or our voice, and we plan to use both," she said.

The California News Service is a journalism project of the University of California Washington Center and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

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