WASHINGTON (By Dan Gilgoff, US News)
July 1, 2006 The announcement from Republican House leaders
earlier this week that there will be public hearings around the
nation this summer on immigration reform had its roots in GOP fears
over the midterm elections. The hearings are expected to delay
negotiations on reconciling the enforcement-only House immigration
bill with the Senate version that has rankled many conservatives
because it includes provisions for millions of illegal immigrants to
become U.S. citizens.
But now many Republicans are
nervous that the hearings plan, by threatening to stymie Congress in
passing any immigration reform, will backfire. And some Democrats
are welcoming the chance to chide Republicans for kicking the can
down the road.
"Anything that gets interpreted as
a stalling action on one of the most important issues facing the
country does not help the governing party," says Whit Ayres, a top
Republican pollster. "Most Americans, including most Republicans,
want something done on illegal immigration. And they want it done
soon."
Democrats hope the immigration
debate will now shift from whether they support "amnesty" for
illegal immigrants to focus instead on what they expect will be a
failure among Republicans to pass any immigration reform.
"Republicans are hanging
themselves," says a top Democratic Party source. "Democrats are
pushing for action on security and enforcement."
A Republican strategist close to
the House says the hearings gambit was born largely of meetings
between Tom Reynolds, the chairman of the National Republican
Congressional Committee, and dozens of Republican congressmen locked
in competitive races this fall. Over a series of monthly meetings,
the vulnerable members told Reynolds that they "could not swallow"
the immigration bill that had passed the Senate because anything
less than the House's enforcement-only measure "would be considered
weakness."
The House immigration bill, passed
by Republicans last December, calls for stepped-up law enforcement
and border security to crack down on illegal immigration. The Senate
bill, which passed earlier this year largely on the backs of
Democrats, provides a path to citizenship for millions of illegal
immigrants.
The Republican strategist says that
Reynolds met with House Republican leaders to help devise the
hearings plan, which would allow House Republicans to "stand up for
principle and fight the Democrats in the Senate." The NRCC
chairman's case was bolstered earlier this month by a Republican
victory in the special election to replace jailed Rep. Randy "Duke"
Cunningham in California's 50th Congressional District. The
Republican candidate, Brian Bilbray, made opposition to citizenship
for illegal immigrants a cornerstone of his campaign.
But the Democrats also took an
important lesson from the California special election: that
promoting a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants was
tantamount to "amnesty" in the eyes of many voters. A Democratic
source said that polling for the Democratic candidate in the
election, Francine Busby, revealed that voters' positions on border
security and enforcement of immigration laws were a much bigger
factor in casting their ballots than was their stance on proposals
that would grant citizenship to some illegal immigrants.
After losing the race, the
Democratic source said, many Democrats were looking for an
opportunity to distance themselves from the Senate's comprehensive
immigration bill.
Tuesday's announcement from the
House GOP leadership provided just the chance. When Sen. Edward
Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat, and Minority Leader Harry Reid
of Nevada spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday morning about
immigration reform, they talked almost exclusively about the
importance of securing the border. And when the Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee responded to the immigration
hearings plan Wednesday morning, it included no mention of
comprehensive immigration reform. "Americans are looking for tough
laws," said DCCC Chairman Rahm Emanuel. "And a Congress with the
will to enforce them."
With Danielle Knight
