Bush must fix immigration woes
President Bush finally re-entered the immigration debate last week to appeal for civility and compassion. He’s way late. The debate is already bitter and divisive, especially within the Republican Party.
More than 200 House Republicans are on record as favoring a draconian border security measure that would make it a felony simply to be in the United States illegally, or to offer assistance ? even a meal, a ride or counseling ? to an illegal immigrant.
Presidential aspirant and current Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has introduced a measure only slightly less punitive, making it a misdemeanor to be in the United States illegally, but a felony to be caught a second time.
It’s not clear whether Frist has put the measure forward to appeal to the xenophobe-populist portion of the GOP’s right wing, to goad the Senate Judiciary Committee into producing a more comprehensive bill, or both.
Meanwhile, immigrant-rights groups are staging huge protests — 30,000 people in Washington, D.C., 100,000 in Chicago. Roman Catholic bishops have denounced the legislation. And leading Democrats are vowing to filibuster the Frist measure if he brings it to the floor Tuesday. A Frist aide said, “Go for it!”
It’s Bush who allowed the situation to get out of hand. Since before he became president, the former border-state governor has favored a moderate, comprehensive approach to immigration — a combination of enhanced border security and internal enforcement measures, plus work permits for new entrants and for those presently working illegally.
Now, his party is split between fellow moderates — led by presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. — and restrictionists led by another presidential aspirant, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. The restrictionist ascendancy threatens to destroy all of Bush’s efforts to woo Hispanic voters into the GOP.
The most sensible proposal to me is the comprehensive bill sponsored by Sens. McCain and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., which involves enhanced border security, tighter controls on employment of illegal immigrants, a worker permit program and a system that allows many of the 12 million illegals now in the country to earn their way toward citizenship.
A useful add-on to the comprehensive approach will be introduced this week by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., to speed up the process of moving legal green-card holders toward citizenship by offering them scholarships worth $500 to learn English and by shortening the qualification time for citizenship from five years to four for those who are fluent.
There’s no question that restrictionists have it right that U.S. borders are scandalously porous, with up to 10,000 persons crossing each day, or 3 million a year.
Building a 700-mile wall along the Mexican border, as provided in the House bill, would be a terrible symbol for a country proud of the Statue of Liberty, but the goal of U.S. policy should be the equivalent — sealing the border to illegal entry as much as possible.
The sticking point between the sides is what to do about the estimated 12 million people currently living illegally in the U.S. Restrictionists want to make their lives such hell that they leave.
Polls suggest that the public is massively confused and ambivalent about immigration. A Quinnipiac University survey last month found that 54 percent of voters want to make it harder for illegal immigrants to work in the U.S. legally. But a Time magazine poll showed that 76 percent favor earned legalization.
This is a moment for presidential leadership. Bush has limited political capital left, but social peace is a cause worth spending it on.
Morton Kondracke is executive editor of Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill.