Lobbyists are first to profit as immigration fight heats up

Congress: Companies, organizations have spent over $8M amid policy impasse.
By Lisa Friedman, Staff writer
Article Launched: 08/27/2007 09:54:42 PM PDT

WASHINGTON - While illegal-immigrant advocates and hardliners warn that Congress' repeated failure to pass immigration law could have dire consequences for the economy, one industry is profiting handsomely from the political gridlock.

Since 2004, lobbyists on K Street have raked in more than $8 million from companies and trade organizations seeking help bending Congress' ear on immigration issues.

The number of firms seeking help from former Capitol Hill and White House insiders has nearly doubled in the same time, and spending has soared to $2.5 million for the first six months of this year alone.

"The immigration issue is proving to be a big moneymaker for lobbyists," said Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group.

A backburner issue in Washington before 9/11, immigration has become one of the hottest policy fights in the country.

The rise in immigration lobbying might come as little surprise, because industries typically hire professional influence-peddlers whenever Congress turns its attention to policies that impact companies' bottom lines.

But analysts note that rarely does an issue capture the attention of so many varied
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interest groups as the fight over legalization.

While agricultural, construction and restaurant industry leaders have been at the forefront of business groups calling for reform, those hiring lobbyists on various immigration provisions also include labor unions, fashion models and even the National Hockey League.

"Immigration is one of those issues that spans many, many industries and interests," Ritsch said.

According to lobbying records compiled by Congressional Quarterly, 57 companies and trade organizations hired outside lobbyists to work primarily on immigration issues last year - up from 38 in 2005 and just 16 in 2004.

So far this year, 27 companies and coalitions have signed new contracts with lobbying firms, while dozens of others continue to retain D.C. consultants.

Contractors and restaurant and farm industry groups that want to increase the number of low-skilled worker visas and give the country's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants some form of legal status make up the greatest number of trade groups lobbying on the issue.

But high-tech firms pushing to expand the number of high-skilled H-1B visas also abound, as do defense firms hoping to win contracts for verification systems and other products.

Only a handful of organizations seeking to toughen immigration restrictions and policies to prevent illegal immigration have hired outside lobbyists.

"Immigration has always been seen as a niche issue. Now it's at the forefront of national security and economic competitiveness," said C. Stewart Verdery, president of the Monument Policy Group and former assistant secretary of Homeland Security.

These days, Verdery's clients include a group called the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, made up of dozens of construction, service industry and agriculture trade groups - including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - which want to see some form of legalization and an increase in the number of low-skilled worker visas.

Despite the considerable Capitol Hill savvy the groups already have, lobbyists and clients said it sometimes still takes an insider to navigate the political labyrinth.

"Many clients find the executive branch process, and especially the Department of Homeland Security, difficult to understand," Verdery said. "They're looking for people to penetrate that mist."

Tim Rupli, a ex-aide to former Republican Rep. Tom DeLay and now the D.C. lobbyist for Numbers USA, which opposes legalization for illegal immigrants, agreed.

"All the great lobbying campaigns - and I think this is one of them - have a three-legged stool that they rest on: grassroots, advertising and inside lobbying.

"You can be the bull in the china shop with only great grassroots lobbying or advertising, but still be only an outsider and get nothing done if the members (of Congress) don't know you, if you don't speak their language," Rupli said.

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