http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20 ... 021954.asp

Immigration bill deserves to die

4/10/2006

By DOUGLAS TURNER

WASHINGTON - At the moment, the Bush administration's immigration initiative is stalled in Congress. It might even die in the House.
It ought to.

There is nothing in it for the average American working man or woman, or taxpayer. The forces behind the bill are commerce and politics.

In 2002, the Bush administration opened wide the gates that had been breached along the Southwest border with Mexico during the Clinton administration.

"Amnesty" is a fighting word. Promoters in the Senate call it giving illegals a second chance. But if it looks like, talks like and walks like amnesty, call it by its proper name.

Desperate immigrants who will work for next to nothing can drive down employment costs in almost every industry; which is why big-box retailers and junk-food purveyors are for the amnesty the legislation promises to defiant lawbreakers.

This is why corporate lobbyists - people who finance congressional campaigns - are pushing hard for "a solution" that will keep the gates wide open.

The construction industry likes amnesty, too, particularly in Southern states where there's no union protection.

Illegals drive down wages. They crowd out urban African-Americans and others who are being marginalized by the crunch in smokestack industries from the few service jobs that are emerging in our consumer economy.

Illegals are not like our immigrant ancestors, who earned citizenship by undergoing a physical, a criminal background check and then had to learn about our laws and language.

Estimates of how many there are range from 12 million, the number used by members of Congress, to 20 million, according to the U.S. Border Patrol union.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., once estimated that 4 million came over the border when Bush began making noises about amnesty.

They are not all like "Jesus himself," which was suggested by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., in March. California estimates that up to half its jail population are illegal immigrants.

An amendment on crime blocked by Democrats was offered by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

Cornyn would disqualify illegals who had committed crimes back home such as manslaughter, rape, aggravated assault and fraud. Last week, Cornyn said he still opposes the Senate bill because "felons, repeat criminals and illegal immigrants who ignored orders of deportation would remain eligible for legalization."

Illegals compete with legitimate, needy citizens for food stamps, child welfare assistance, housing subsidies and Supplemental Security Income. They drive up the costs of schools and other state social services.

There's legitimate concern about what would happen to farms if the government cracked down harder on migrant agricultural workers, almost all of whom are undocumented.

That's easily addressed in the bill S.359 sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Backed by 48 members, including 16 Republicans, the bill would issue a special green card to allow migrants to come and go between their homes in Latin America and the United States, and speed their path to permanent residency.

The legislation is backed by the United Farm Workers.

As usual, the immigration debate in Congress is not about Main Street. It is intramural, and dominated by Beltway politics.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., sees in the bill an opportunity for Democrats "to show Hispanics who their real friends are."

Grover Norquist, an influential adviser to President Bush, said tough enforcement of immigration laws means that Republicans "could be weaker with Hispanics for generations."

But it's dumb politics. All polls show the voters want the laws kept just as they were for their ancestors.


e-mail: dturner@buffnews.com