Thread: Pence plan a hard sell to Republicans

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Pence plan a hard sell to Republicans
By Ruben Navarrette
Published 12:01 am PDT Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Rep. Mike Pence visited San Diego recently to get a close-up of the U.S.-Mexican border. And that gave me a chance to get a close-up of Mike Pence.

The Indiana Republican is a rising star in the GOP, who has emerged as one of the most pivotal figures in the immigration debate. He also must be one of the most frustrated.

That's because every time the three-term congressman comes up with a way to give GOP hard-liners what they say they want in an immigration bill, they decide they don't want it anymore. It's a maddening negotiation.

The Republican holdouts have said all along that they want border security first -- before any discussion about what to do with 12 million illegal immigrants. They said they oppose amnesty and define it as anything that forgives the unlawful act of entering the country without proper documents. And, they said, it'd be nice if the illegal immigrants had to return home first and apply to re-enter the United States legally.

Pence agreed to every demand, crafting a "third way" alternative to the cumbersome Senate bill and the unworkable enforcement-only House bill. And yet still, he admits, about a third of House conservatives -- perhaps 30 or 40 members -- are "unalterably opposed" to his approach.

Under the Pence plan, the first priority would be securing the border. Then comes a guest worker program that would require illegal immigrants in the United States to return to their home countries to register at privately run centers. The immigrants would get work visas that could be renewed every two years for up to 12 years, provided they were learning English. For the next five years, they'd be given a more permanent visa. After 17 years, participants could apply for U.S. citizenship.

Pence gained an ally in Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who, according to the congressman, "improved the plan immensely" by suggesting that participation be limited to those who come from countries who partner with the United States in the North American and Central American free trade agreements.

There's another limit in the Pence plan. For the first three years of the guest worker program, the market dictates the amount of people who can participate. But beginning in the fourth year, the U.S. Labor Department would put a cap on the number.

What Pence didn't see coming was that this good neighbor policy would freak out those who are scared silly about the Latinization of America. It's in that crowd you'll find the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an anti-immigrant group that not only wants to eliminate illegal immigration but also limit legal immigration. FAIR is running hit pieces on the radio in Indiana that label the Pence plan a "backdoor amnesty." I don't buy that, and neither does Pence.

"If you're applying outside the United States for the legal right to work inside the United States," he said, "that's not amnesty."

"As a matter of the law, there's no amnesty involved in that transaction because you're applying outside the jurisdiction of the United States of America."

And while Pence acknowledges that there is racism in this debate, he insists it is limited to "a very small number of Americans" and that none of his colleagues in Congress fits the description.

Pence knows that I'm usually not so generous.

"I'm not saying that what you have observed and rightly chastised in your columns isn't out there," he said. "But if we can find a way to get people right with the law without undermining our commitment to law and order, I think every community in Indiana and every community around the country would be more than happy to have these people and more like them."


About the writer:
Ruben Navarrette Jr. writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. His column routinely appears in The Bee on Wednesday and occasionally on other days. Reach him at ruben.navarrette@uniontrib.com. Distributed by the Washington Post Writers Group.

I don't buy that, and neither does Pence.

That's tough. It's back door amnesty with the fox minding the henhouse. It's amnesty for corporate criminals. And more...........