Thread: Immigration split still hangs over McCain and Republicans

March 05, 2008
Read More: Immigration

Immigration split still hangs over McCain and Republicans

While John McCain was being coronated as the heir apparent at a highly publicized White House meeting with President Bush, his colleagues on Capitol Hill couldn't resist rolling out what could be described as a Lou Dobbs dream package of immigration bills.

It was one of those moments where one had to wonder if the right hand of the Republican Party was talking to the left, er, moderate hand.

Immigration is the preeminent issue that has divided McCain from his party, as he has supported an ill-fated comprehensive immigration overhaul, including a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Since that debacle, he has been chastened, saying he believes in border security first.

Yet while Bush was passing the torch to McCain as the party's standard bearer, a half dozen conservative GOP senators were unveiling proposals dealing with deportation, making English the official language, revoking funds for "sanctuary cities" and giving local police more immigration enforcement powers.

"This debate has not ended. It's not on hold," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) as he unveiled a series of Republican immigration proposals. "Something needs to be done this year."

Sessions said he had not consulted with the White House on the issue, nor had he talked directly with McCain. Sessions also hasn't asked the man who sets the Senate schedule, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), to consider on the proposals.

Sessions and other opponents of comprehensive immigration reform believe McCain has learned his lesson.

"He has said he got the message and believes the way to go is border enforcement first," Sessions said. "I think he'll be supportive of much of it."

"There's nothing in here that represents an attempt to embarrass him," Sessions was quick to add.
But these issues still might create trouble for McCain now that he's turned his attention to the general election. He still needs his reticent GOP base to turn out, yet he'll also need independent voters and a reasonable support level from Hispanics in Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona and other swing states.

The package of proposals unveiled by McCain's colleagues may only inflame the immigration debate. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), for example, has proposed withholding federal law enforcement money for "sanctuary cities" that have lax immigration enforcement. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) wants to dock states 10 percent of their highway funding if they give licenses to illegal immigrants. And Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) has a bill that would make English the "national language."

Sessions, who made a name for himself by spending hours at a time on the Senate floor last year, fighting the doomed immigration bill, has proposed mandatory minimum prison sentences for illegal immigrants.

None of these proposals is likely to see the light of day unless they appear as amendments to next week's budget resolution, which might force McCain to either flip flop on key immigration issues. or duck the vote altogether.

Democratic leaders aren't playing ball, either.
"While Senator Reid continues to support legislation that is tough on people that break the law, fair to taxpayers and practical to implement, this falls far, far short of what is needed to deal with the issue of immigration reform," said Reid spokesman Jim Manley.

In the House, Republicans were making a more concerted effort to coordinate their immigration message with McCain.

Some House Republicans were moving ahead full-throttle to force a vote on an immigration enforcement measure offered by Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina. But leaders have temporarily applied the brakes to that effort until they have more time to coordinate with the McCain campaign.


Boehner has tapped four Republicans to coordinate on the immigration issue as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) works with her members to devise a compromise measure that would be acceptable to the competing interests within her own party. Those Republicans met Tuesday night and again Wednesday, but they won't make a decision until top leaders have had a chance to brief members of the McCain campaign team.

Meanwhile, a group of House Democrats met Wednesday to discuss more comprehensive legislation that would mend a persistent shortfall in temporary visas for seasonal workers and grants some protection to undocumented workers already in this country.
UPDATE: Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), one of only three Hispanic senators, has called on McCain to reject the GOP proposals, saying the package would only create a "wedge" issue come November.

“The Republican Party might think this is a wedge issue for November, but their strategy only dims their chances this year and for generations to come," Menendez said. "Latinos are not a group on the fringes of our society that can be manipulated to score political points. If this presidential primary season has shown us anything, it is that Latinos are no longer the sleeping giant in American politics – they are fully awake, active and making a difference. This is the type of cynical effort that serves to deepen the divisions in our nation that we should be working to bridge.â€

This is the only way they are going to win and they know it.

This seem like the perfect time to have another debate, and then can they afford to ignore us anymore. The only one who do not want this raised are the ones hoping for a all round Dem in power and then God or someone help us.

Originally Posted by cvangel

"He has said he got the message and believes the way to go is border enforcement first," Sessions said. "I think he'll be supportive of much of it."

I disagree. At present, I think McCain supports ONLY enforcing the border, otherwise he would be stating such publicly to solidly unite his conservative base, despite alienating Latinos. By remaining silent, he is pandering to the Latinos. It is possible, however, that he will be persuaded to change his position, at least until the election is over. Remember...McCain owns stock in UniVision!

Originally Posted by cvangel

duck the vote altogether

Most likely he will!

Originally Posted by cvangel

"Menendez said, "Latinos are not a group on the fringes of our society that can be manipulated to score political points.

Last time I checked, it was the Democrats who were manipulating Latinos for their political advantage!

Moving from General Discussion to News since this is from a news source.

Meanwhile, a group of House Democrats met Wednesday to discuss more comprehensive legislation that would mend a persistent shortfall in temporary visas for seasonal workers and grants some protection to undocumented workers already in this country.

If this writer believes Joe Baca's 5-year visa amnesty scheme only "grants some protection to undocumented workers," he is uninformed or intentionally trying to mislead readers. Baca's visa scheme would provide rolling de facto amnesty for tens of millions of IAs and we are and will NOT be fooled by this.