Thread: Immigration overhaul has strong chance this year

Published: 01.27.2007
Morlock: Immigration overhaul has strong chance this year
BLAKE MORLOCK
Tucson Citizen
Congress just might deliver comprehensive immigration reform this year, but it must happen before the Capitol is ensnared in presidential politics.
On this issue, it's the lack of speed that kills.
Eleven congressmen and senators appear to be running for president, and the immigration issue is too hot for an election season "aye."
"We have a very tight window," said U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, a Democrat from Tucson. "I think we need to have something in the first six months."
In his State of the Union speech Tuesday, President Bush repeated his call for an immigration law that includes a guest worker program.
It is one of the few subjects that Bush and much of the new Democratic majority agree on.
Congressional leaders will start with last year's McCain-Kennedy guest worker bill, Grijalva said. A bill will be introduced by mid-April, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised it will receive a fair hearing, Grijalva said.
Its fate will be decided in the House. The Senate approved the bill last year, but the House did not consider a similar resolution.
Any immigration bill must start in the House Judiciary subcommittee, go to the full Judiciary Committee and then to the House floor for a vote and changes.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the new immigration subcommittee chairwoman, said immigration reform is her first order of business.
Her plan, she said, is to try to craft legislation that would move smoothly through Congress, rather than write a Democratic dream bill that gets hacked up deeper in the legislative process.
Democrats need Republican support because some on the left are taking hard-line stands similar to those that killed comprehensive reform in 2006.
Grijalva said he is worried about a bill drafted to achieve too much support.
"It's a Catch-22 for leadership," Grijalva said. "To satisfy the conservatives, you may end up with a bill that's so diluted, it won't accomplish anything. I couldn't support that kind of bill."
Complicating all this, Congress hasn't just changed management. Its power networks have been scrambled.
New cardinals and deacons are in charge of various Capitol Hill choke points and Congress doesn't yet have a sense of itself.
Lofgren barely had a chance to catch her breath before being pestered about immigration.
"On Tuesday, I was officially named chairwoman of the subcommittee. Wednesday, we had our first meeting of the full committee. Today is Thursday," Lofgren said.
Grijalva sees it like this:
"I don't think the rules of engagement have changed, but it's an entirely different road map."
The president can help a lot by providing political cover for Republicans. The enforcement-first crowd could shape the debate if Bush doesn't, Grijalva said.
Then there are the freshmen such as Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
"Believe me, I'm all immigration all the time," the Tucsonan said.
But as a freshman, she's not going to get as good a seat at the table as Grijalva in negotiating the deal.
She's already counting votes.
"I'm trying to reach out to people with similar convictions," she said.
The kind of fix Democrats seek would provide employers relief, make it easier for immigrants to enter the country to find work and allow those here illegally now to come out of the shadows.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said the mood in his chamber is more conducive to comprehensive legislation. He will reintroduce his plan, which would make the millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S. return home before applying for guest worker status.
The sticking points - how long guest workers can stay and what to do with illegal immigrants here now - are much the same as they were.
"Things are coming together," Kyl said. "There's a good chance it will get done, but (it) will be hard."
Opponents fear that any guest worker plan would set a horrible precedent by rewarding lawbreakers.
The Minuteman PAC will work to fire up opposition throughout the country as hard-liners such as Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., work the halls of Congress.
"We're going to fight this tooth and nail," said Rick Shaftan, a Minuteman lobbyist.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/40022.php

The president can help a lot by providing political cover for Republicans. The enforcement-first crowd could shape the debate if Bush doesn't, Grijalva said.

Bush provide cover??