Thread: IMMIGRATION TAKING A PROMINENT ROLE IN '08

Immigration taking prominent role in '08 elections

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer

NORTH COUNTY TIMES
RIVERSIDE / SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

Public, candidates struggle with heated debate

When voters pick a presidential candidate in Iowa this week, in California next month and nationwide in November, immigration reform will be among their top concerns, analysts and advocates on both sides of the immigration debate say.

But there the agreement ends: Opponents of illegal immigration say the elections will show that voters want their borders enforced.

Advocates of legalizing some of the millions of illegal immigrants living in the country say that voters will favor candidates who champion a more welcoming immigration policy.

The elections come on the heels of a year that saw a pitched fight in Congress over a proposal that offered the most sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration policy in two decades.

President Bush and a bipartisan group of senators offered a plan that would increase border enforcement and allow some of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to apply for legal status.

Without enough votes to pass, the bill died in June. But Congress' failure to act on the immigration plan did not end the debate.

Soon after the bill's failure, the federal government announced a tightening of immigration rules, including a plan to get employers to comply with laws against hiring illegal immigrants.

Since then, questions about immigration have dogged candidates ---- particularly Republicans ---- through debates, stump speeches and in the media.

"It is clearly a big issue here in Iowa," said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington-based group that advocates for stricter immigration policies. He was speaking from Des Moines, where the group brought 22 radio talk show hosts, including San Diego's Roger Hedgecock, in late December to promote its border-enforcement stance.

Mehlman highlighted a Zogby International poll, commissioned by his group and taken Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, that reported 84 percent of Iowa Republicans and 60 percent of Iowa Democrats out of 514 people surveyed favor stricter policies, such as increasing efforts against companies that hire illegal immigrants.

Mehlman also pointed to the defeat of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's efforts to grant driver's licences to illegal immigrants, which Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton supported. The defeat shows voters don't want increased rights for illegal immigrants, Mehlman said.

In a national survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports, 79 percent of 800 likely voters polled said they did not want illegal immigrants to "receive public services and benefits such as rental and housing assistance and business licenses."

Immigrant-rights advocates disagree. They say the "enforcement-only" approach might find an audience in some of the more conservative circles of the GOP, but will not play well in the larger voting public.

"Most Americans are very much in the center on immigration," said Doug Rivlin, a spokesman for the National Immigration Forum, which promotes comprehensive immigration reform, including an opportunity to legalize illegal immigrants.

Rivlin pointed to recent media-sponsored polls that suggest voters may prefer a different approach to reform. One of the polls, by the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg, taken Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, reported 63 percent of 1,183 people surveyed favor a proposal that would allow illegal immigrants "to start on (the) path to citizenship."

The passions over illegal immigration that heat up the national debate are echoed at the local level.

For instance, when Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist announced his support for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for president in December, it set off a firestorm of opposition among Minuteman splinter groups.

Huckabee, a Republican front-runner for his party's nomination who supported a program to help illegal immigrant students pay for college tuition, was labeled an "opportunist" by some of the Minuteman groups and other anti-illegal immigration activists.

Democratic presidential candidates have been relatively low-key on immigration.

Rivlin said that's because most of the Democratic candidates have similar views on reform. Most have said they support immigration reform along the lines of the bill debated in 2007, which included increased funding for immigration enforcement along with a path to legalize millions of illegal immigrants.

Opponents called the proposal "amnesty" for those who broke the law by coming into the country illegally.

Mehlman said the reason Democrats rarely mention immigration is because their ideas are out of sync with what voters want.

"Clearly, these candidates are reading the polls," Mehlman said.

U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, said that because the public is divided over immigration reform along party lines, it will be important to pay attention to independent voters to see which way they vote.

Bilbray, who serves as chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus, a group that favors stricter immigration enforcement, said immigration will be important to voters during the elections.

Bilbray is one of the top sponsors of a bill that would require employers to verify that all of their new workers are in the country legally, call for an increase in the number of U.S. Border Patrol agents, intensify aerial surveillance at the nation's borders and increase the number of detention facilities.

Rivlin said it's difficult to predict just how prominent immigration will be in the general election. He said that will largely depend on whom Republicans choose ---- whether it's a moderate such as Arizona Sen. John McCain, who supported the comprehensive immigration bill, or someone who has staked a more restrictive approach.

Mehlman said he's glad immigration is getting the attention it deserves. He said candidates are already being asked more questions about immigration than in the 2004 presidential elections.

"The candidates can't escape it," Mehlman said. "It's a good sign, at least from our point of view, that this issue isn't being pushed under the rug."

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.

Key dates to remember before Feb. 5 election

Jan. 7 ---- First day to apply for a vote by mail ballot by mail

Jan. 22 ---- Last day to register to vote

Jan. 29 ---- Last day that county election officials will accept any voter's application for a vote by mail ballot

Feb. 5 ---- Last day to apply for a vote by mail ballot in person at the office of the county elections official

Feb. 5 ---- Election day , polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

---- California Secretary of State

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/01 ... _31_07.txt

Advocates of legalizing some of the millions of illegal immigrants living in the country say that voters will favor candidates who champion a more welcoming immigration policy.

I don't think so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why on earth would we?????????

YOU don't think WE SEE THE DAMAGE IT IS CAUSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!