Thread: An Unwelcome shift?

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An unwelcome shift?
April 13, 2007
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS

WASHINGTON -- The terms of the immigration debate have turned less friendly for illegal immigrants as lawmakers and the Bush administration struggle to reach a deal in the next few weeks.

The landscape for an immigration overhaul has turned upside down in only a year, with a different party in control of Congress and new political realities for President Bush and the chief congressional negotiators.


Bush -- in search of a domestic legacy -- has morphed from cheerleader on the sidelines to broker in the fray, dispatching Cabinet members for lengthy daily meetings with senators on Capitol Hill.

And while Republican divisions were highlighted last year, this time it's Democrats -- eager to show they can lead -- whose fissures are on display.

In an ironic twist, the outlines of a potential deal have moved to the right -- toward a more difficult road to citizenship for the nation's roughly 12 million illegal immigrants -- even as the power in Congress has shifted to Democrats, who overwhelmingly favor a more permissive approach.

The White House has floated a proposal that would require illegal immigrants to pay fines as high as $10,000, face long waits and return to their home countries in order to be eligible for citizenship -- far tougher conditions than in a bipartisan measure passed by the Senate last year and backed by Bush.

The immigrants also would be denied a right to bring family members to the United States.

A bipartisan House measure introduced earlier this year would add a new mandate that undocumented immigrants go home before gaining legal status -- a requirement that many Democrats and pro-immigrant groups have decried as "report to deport."

The changes reflect a new political calculus for Republicans, who fear that any plan passed by the centrist Senate will become more permissive toward immigrants in the more liberal House and during final Democratic-dominated negotiations.

Democrats, in turn, recognize that any immigration plan must have substantial GOP support in order to have a chance of being signed into law, so they are considering tougher measures.

Duplicate

Immigration Debate Sours for Illegals

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=60165