http://www.tracypress.com/voice/2006-03-06-harrop.php

Immigration in free fall


PROVIDENCE, R.I. - President Bush gets lousy ratings over Iraq, Katrina and the economy. But he hits bedrock bottom on the issue of immigration. Bush believes that cheap labor is the birthright of every American employer, and so has refused to enforce the law against hiring undocumented workers. In all of 2004, the federal government fined only three companies for employing illegal aliens.

Some Republicans are quite angry at the immigration free-for-all, but they apparently have little influence over the administration. Democrats have an opportunity to show that they can govern where Republicans have failed. Some have already begun.

In Arizona, Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano is pushing for a state law that would slap heavy fines on companies that employ illegal immigrants. And from New York, Sen. Hillary Clinton is demanding serious enforcement of employer penalties. "I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigration," she said in a now-famous radio interview.

Meanwhile, In Washington, Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is distributing a 350-page draft bill that pretends to address the problem. The measure would legalize millions of undocumented workers and expand legal immigration, while offering only vague promises to enforce the law on the books. It's the Bush approach: If you legalize everybody, there's no more illegal immigration.

Many Democrats are tempted to sit back and let the Republicans tear themselves apart over the issue. Some may assume that a swelling population of poor workers is good for their voter rolls. But as defenders of working people, they have a duty to maintain fair labor markets. And by helping restore order at the border, Democrats can also ease concerns that they are weak on national security.

Bush figures that he can indulge employers and not worry, because the costs of illegal immigration fall mostly on state and local governments. His new budget actually ends federal reimbursements to the states for the expense of jailing illegals. Arizona spent $77 million on that outlay in 2004.

Like all states, Arizona must pay for medical care, education and other services delivered to illegal workers who pay little or no taxes. But as a next-door neighbor to Mexico, it bears the extra burden of dealing with the chaos at the border.

The Arizona Chamber of Commerce opposes Napolitano's bill, which was introduced into the state Senate by a Democrat. The chamber is backing a Republican alternative that would fine employers who "knowingly and intentionally" hire illegal aliens - but absolve them if they make a show of following the rules. That sounds a lot like the federal law that everyone ignores.

The president has responded to the widespread anger with a distracting but ineffective police action at the border. Democrats have an advantage in that they are not wholly owned by corporate America. That gives them more freedom to do the only thing that can fix the problem: apply the employer sanctions.

This would also be the more humane approach. It moves the spotlight off the immigrants - who think, not without reason, that the law they're breaking barely exists - and onto the people who hire them. Cutting off the job magnet would reduce confrontation at the border. The Border Patrol could then focus on terrorists. And demands to build a fence between the United States and Mexico could be shelved.

Once law and order is established, Americans can draw up a sensible immigration policy. They might decide that more immigrants are needed, and increase the legal limits. They could consider a guest-worker program for agriculture. They might even want to extend amnesty to some immigrants who have been here a long time.

The point is, any expansion of the numbers would occur after, and only after, genuine enforcement of the laws had commenced. And the public would have an input: Employers could no longer offer terrible wages and no benefits, then unilaterally declare that Americans won't do the work.

The Democratic Party can take its lead from Arizona's Napolitano. First, it must resist voices on the left that refuse to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants. (These "liberals" should really stop collaborating with cheap-labor conservatives.) Then, Democrats can craft an immigration agenda that respects American workers, foreigners, businesses and the law. The public will be sure to notice.

Froma Harrop is a member of the Providence (R.I.) Journal editorial board and a Creators Syndicate columnist.

http://www.tracypress.com/voice/2006-03-06-harrop.php