Thread: Bush Admin underestimated opposition to WH backed Imm Leg.

Sept. 14, 2007, 11:57PM
Snow says White House misread public mood on immigration
Bush spokesman says White House misread the public


By RICHARD S. DUNHAM
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Complete coverage of immigration issues WASHINGTON — The Bush administration underestimated the ferocity of opposition to White House-backed immigration legislation this year, outgoing White House press secretary Tony Snow said Friday.

"I freely admit that we underestimated the (public) skepticism," Snow said over breakfast with a group of reporters on his final day on the job.

Snow said that the White House was unprepared for the anger of foes of illegal immigration, many of whom believe that government at all levels has failed to secure the nation's borders. The public backlash was aimed "not merely (at) the Bush administration," he conceded, but the White House "made some miscalculations, as well."

The president's chief spokesman, 52, who has waged a very public battle with cancer during his 17 months in the high-profile job, said that though a compromise immigration bill came close to passage, the process now "requires a much longer debate."

"We should have gotten it through last time," he said. "This is an issue that will be with us — will not go away."

After the 2007 legislative defeat, he said, the government must demonstrate that it can secure the border "in a competent way" before any plan to allow American companies to hire more immigrants and permit the legalization of illegal workers can gain traction on Capitol Hill.

Snow argued for a continuing flow of immigrant labor. "We have this big, booming economy," he said, "and we don't have enough workers."

Calling America "a nation of immigrants," he said Congress and the president needed to come up with a plan to deal with the approximately 12 million people who are illegally in the country.

"A lot of these people really are pursuing the traditional path to the American dream," he said.

To win political support for comprehensive legislation, Snow said, the government must re-establish credibility by protecting the border and requiring illegal immigrants to pay substantial penalties before taking their place "at the back of the line" to citizenship. While waiting for legal status, they should not be permitted to collect welfare and should be required to maintain continuous employment and crime-free lives, he added.

Despite the passionate opposition to illegal immigration, Snow said that both political parties should be sensitive to the feelings of Hispanic voters.

"No political party is going to be able to survive (without the) fastest-growing voting bloc in America," he said.

On the 2008 Republican presidential candidates' repeated attacks on President Bush's record on immigration, Snow uncharacteristically demurred.

"Ask me that question in a week — or even tomorrow," he said. "As the president's press secretary, I'm not going to step into that one."

Now he's a mind reader????

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