Thread: Politicians cite lack of trust in immigration bill's failure

July 1, 2007, 1:14AM
Politicians cite lack of trust in immigration bill's failure
Both parties say Americans have lost faith in government's problem-solving

By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The collapse of the Senate's effort to overhaul an immigration system that works well for virtually no one is being blamed on a volatile brew of politics, intense public pressure and its advocates' half-hearted embrace of the proposed fix.

But perhaps the dominant reason singled out by Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill was that Americans do not trust their government to take the hard, complicated steps necessary to solve this — and other — intractable problems facing the nation.

"A lot of Americans have lost faith in their government," a disappointed Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said after the Senate spurned the deal he and about a dozen other Republicans and Democrats crafted. "They don't think we can control our borders. They don't think we can win a war. They don't think we can issue passports ...

"So they ask the question, 'Why should we grant special status to people who came here illegally until we know that you're going to get serious about enforcing this new law?' "

A persistent shadow over the debate was the government's inadequate performance after Congress passed a 1986 law that pledged stiffer enforcement but delivered only on the other part of the deal: legalization for nearly 3 million illegal immigrants.


Outcry swamps Capitol Hill
Two decades later, the enforcement demand rang like a clarion call among the conservative grassroots, which savaged the Senate bill as "amnesty" for lawbreakers and fanned a huge outcry that swamped Capitol Hill with hundreds of thousands of faxes, calls and e-mail messages and crashed the Senate telephone system.

Emboldened by the outcome, the band of Southern Republicans who led the charge against the bill immediately demanded that the Bush administration, which promoted the compromise, redouble its enforcement efforts against illegal immigration at the Southwest border and in the interior.

"The first step as we leave here today is to make sure the administration got the clear message from this vote that enforcement comes first," Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said.

But a visibly frustrated Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who spent hundreds of hours in negotiations over the bill, accused its critics of sending him to war with inadequate armament.

"Secure the border, but we won't give you the weapons? Why is that a sensible solution?" Chertoff asked.

The bill's demise means no mandatory employment-verification system to weed out unauthorized workers; no increased penalties for ID counterfeiters or rogue employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants; no tamper-proof driver's licenses; and no immediate $4.4 billion infusion for border security.


Border fencing
Even though Chertoff said the current laws are insufficient to effectively end illegal immigration, he made clear that he is duty-bound to enforce them — popular or not.
So, he said, the work will go on to grow the Border Patrol to 18,000 agents; build 370 miles of fencing at the border and create a "virtual" fence of electronic surveillance; and conduct worksite enforcement raids.

"And, I have to say, you will continue to see heart-wrenching examples of families being pulled apart because I have an obligation to enforce the law, whether it's painful to do or whether it's pleasurable to do," Chertoff said. "But in order to regain the credibility with the American people that has been squandered over 30 years, we're going to have to be tough."

His warning worries Houstonians such as U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Wafa Abdin, who works closely with illegal immigrants as the supervising attorney at Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance at Catholic Charities of Houston.

"My fear is we will see a stepping-up of the enforcement," Abdin said. Although Houston has not seen major raids of the kind other cities have experienced, she said, "I am very worried for the community, to tell you the truth, more than anything."

Jackson Lee called on the Department of Homeland Security to provide measured enforcement. "We cannot run our immigration system by sporadic raids," the Democrat said.

A day after the Senate's decision to abandon work on the issue, Abdin said many of her clients were in despair.

"Really, people are very, very disappointed, I would say," Abdin said. "There was hope for them to get some kind of (legal) status."

Employers also expressed dismay about the implosion of the bill — and the likelihood that Congress would shelve reform efforts until after the 2008 elections.

"Employers want to hire legal workers, but under the current situation they are between the devil and the deep blue sea in terms of hiring folks who appear to have legitimate documents," said Bill Hammond, head of the Texas Association of Business and a key member of the Texas Employers for Immigration Reform coalition pressing for a comprehensive bill.

Jackson Lee remains hopeful that Congress can yet take some steps — if not this year, then next — to improve the identity documents used to verify workers and increase sanctions on scofflaw employers.

michelle.mittelstadt@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4935146.html

Michael Cherkoff said:

build 370 miles of fencing at the border and create a "virtual" fence of electronic surveillance; and conduct worksite enforcement raids.

Where's the rest of the fence that is in the existing laws?

Where are the existing LAWS....but instead we have Jherkoff...down in MEXICO with Alberto La RAZA Gonzales...visisting with the MEXICAN government...Now that is bullchit...
simple... they are part of the NAU/SPP/CFR...they are not working for the American people...they are working against American Citizens...

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"Really, people are very, very disappointed, I would say," Abdin said. "There was hope for them to get some kind of (legal) status."

Yeah, and I am disappointed that an armored car hasn't dropped big bags of cash in my front yard with a sign on it that says, "Free, help yourself."