Thread: For GOP, one topic prevails: immigration

Campaign 2008

For GOP, one topic prevails: immigration

By LAUREN R. DORGAN
Monitor staff
August 24. 2007 12:15AM

Illegal immigration has ignited conservative primary audiences in New Hampshire this year, prompting more questions than Iraq in many town hall meetings. Voters have grilled Sen. John McCain about his support for a compromise immigration bill and Rudy Giuliani about policies in New York City when he was mayor.

The heat on this issue could be surprising in New Hampshire, a state of 1.3 million that has a small immigrant population and a tiny illegal one. According to census estimates, the state gained 13,700 immigrants from 2000 to 2006; one expert projects that the state may have a total illegal immigrant population of 6,000 to 7,000.

No one is identified with the illegal immigration issue more than Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who has championed building a fence on the Mexican border. The fence idea has been embraced on the stump across the Republican field, including top candidates such as Giuliani and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

"People have a very deep, deep concern about this, and it's not just politicos like me. It is little gray-haired ladies and moms and dads. This has saturated the population," said Shelly Uscinski, Tancredo's New Hampshire campaign manager. "When you see all the presidential candidates have moved to the Tancredo position, you know that it's an important issue."

Romney and Giuliani, ranked first and second in many polls, have sparred on immigration for weeks. Both have sharply criticized the immigration reform bill backed by McCain that would have provided a path to legalization for the 12 million illegal immigrants believed to be living in the United States. Both inveigh against amnesty on the stump and have moved on to finer distinctions.

In New Hampshire and Iowa, Romney's campaign launched a radio advertisement this week targeting "sanctuary cities," which don't require city employees to report illegal immigrants to federal authorities. The ad mentions New York City, a dig at Giuliani, whose campaign promptly retorted that Massachusetts had three sanctuary cities on Romney's watch.

But the issue isn't just coming up in ads and in press reports. Republican candidates can't hold a question-and-answer session in New Hampshire without getting at least one on illegal immigration. "Certainly Iraq and immigration are the two that we get every time," said Romney spokesman Craig Stevens.

Why here?

From what he can tell, the immigration issue "has burst onto the scene" over the past couple of years, said New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen. The son of immigrants from Ireland himself, Cullen said he thinks post-Sept. 11 security concerns might be driving the issue to the fore. It doesn't seem to be driven by anything people have seen in the state, he said.

"There just seems to be a disconnect between the rhetoric and what actually takes place on the ground in New Hampshire," Cullen said. "I would say that Lou Dobbs and talk radio have certainly been fanning the flames on this issue."

Asked if she'd ever seen an illegal immigrant in New Hampshire, Uscinski said she doesn't ask people their citizenship status and that reporters should do more to find them. "I travel around with my candidate," she said. "I don't really imagine that too many illegal aliens or aliens would be attending Tancredo events.

Uscinski, who worked for Pat Buchanan's campaigns in 1996 and 2000, said she thinks her former candidate was prescient. "He was the lone voice in the wilderness talking about illegal immigration," she said. "Of course, back then, he was decried as a xenophobe and a racist among other epithets. And now what he was saying has come to fruition, and now people have realized that."

Among the voters worried about immigration James Power, 79, a retired machinist from Laconia. He went to see McCain this spring and panned the Arizona senator's support of the compromise immigration reform bill.

Power said illegal immigrants should go through the same processes as previous immigrants. He said he'd never seen illegal immigrants in New Hampshire and couldn't exactly explain why this issue had caught him this year.

"I haven't actually seen an immigrant, myself, but I just listen to the news," he said.

Some flare-ups

New Hampshire has seen some flare-ups surrounding immigration. Two summers ago, New Ipswich Police Chief Garrett Chamberlain made national news when he charged an illegal immigrant who had worked as a roofer with trespassing in his town. The charge was later thrown out by a judge.

This year, the New Hampshire House retained a bill that would ban police from holding suspects whose only offense is violating immigration laws. It's unclear how much support the bill has, but last week it was mentioned by Romney during a stump speech in Londonderry.

Immigration to New Hampshire has been "extremely low" relative to the rest of the country, said demographer Ken Johnson of the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. From 2000 to 2006, the state received a net migration of 37,000 of people from within the United States and 13,700 immigrants from outside the country.

Based on projections from national numbers, New Hampshire probably has 6,000 to 7,000 illegal immigrants, said Esteban López, a member of New Hampshire's Governor's Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs.

Immigration reform is on its way towards being a litmus-test issue on par with abortion, analysts said.

"Where you stand on that issue tells conservatives whether you're supporting the conservative cause or betraying the conservative cause," said Dante Scala, an associate professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire.

But it's also an extremely tricky issue. Romney, for example, has been outspoken in criticizing the compromise immigration bill that failed in the Senate this spring. But he hasn't said what he would do with the 12 million illegal immigrants believed to be within the borders of the United States. His campaign said that he plans to crack down on employers, which Stevens said would make it "more difficult and less attractive for people to be here illegally."

Democrats largely tout the provisions in that bill - pay a fine, learn English - as being the key pieces to allowing those immigrants to become legal. Political analysts said it would be difficult to find a solution palatable to Republican primary voters.

"There's no good solution for that. One argument is you just take care of the borders, and even though that's difficult, it's a relatively simple task next to what to do with the folks that are already here," Scala said. "If a Republican candidate can, he's going to kick that can down the road."

The other issue for the GOP and immigration is that there's a risk of losing support from a large and growing Hispanic bloc, which will number 9 million in the upcoming election, said López, who has endorsed Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton.

"The strategy behind the Republican Party is one that can pay off in the short term but they're alienating Latinos in the long term," López said.

But the party's been riven over the Iraq war and even divided over President Bush's tenure. López said he understands why Republicans have turned to immigration.

"The thing about immigration reform is that's the one single topic that unifies Republican conservatives in this country," he said.

By LAUREN R. DORGAN

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs ... /708240312

"The strategy behind the Republican Party is one that can pay off in the short term but they're alienating Latinos in the long term," López said.

If they are real Americans, why would they be alienated? Alternatively is it better to alienate Americans???

Originally Posted by IndianaJones

"The strategy behind the Republican Party is one that can pay off in the short term but they're alienating Latinos in the long term," López said.

If they are real Americans, why would they be alienated? Alternatively is it better to alienate Americans???

That's right. Also, this statement

"But the party's been riven over the Iraq war and even divided over President Bush's tenure. López said he understands why Republicans have turned to immigration. " This is ludicrous. We haven't turned to immigration because of being divided over Iraq. We've been screaming about it for years and neither Dems or Repubs have listened. These people don't get it that people are leaving their parties over this, from both parties.

[ROMNEY]But he hasn't said what he would do with the 12 million illegal immigrants believed to be within the borders of the United States.

I read a recent report that said Romney (at least says) he supports a policy of attrition through enforcement as a way of dealing with the millions of illegals here.

"When you see all the presidential candidates have moved to the Tancredo position, you know that it's an important issue.

Some of these crooked politicians are going to be trying to sneak through the back door by slowly pretending to change their views. They think there slick.