Washington – As the Senate prepares to take up immigration legislation, members of a citizen border-watch group rallied outside the Capitol on Wednesday, pledging to torpedo any bill granting legal status to undocumented workers.
“If the president of the United States really wanted to, he could secure the border tomorrow,” Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., one of several speakers, told the Minuteman Project rally to loud cheers. “…The unfortunate, dirty truth of the matter is, he has no desire to do so.”
Shouting “Stop the invasion,” a few dozen protesters from as far away as California said they would work to force out of office anyone who voted for a “guest worker” program for foreigners.
Counterprotesters shouted such slogans as “Right-wing bigots, go away” and carried signs reading “Change your name, you’re still the KKK.”
Minuteman Project volunteers intermittently camp out along the U.S.-Mexican border, watching for illegal crossings. Members of the group will lobby lawmakers as they consider immigration measures.
President Bush wants a program that would allow certain foreigners to keep U.S. jobs for a minimum of three years. He included $247 million in his latest budget proposal to fund a rollout of the guest-worker plan.
Various bills in the Senate also would allow the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. to work toward permanent legal status. The Senate is expected to take up the issue in March.
A House bill that passed in December included numerous provisions to secure the border, including fences in some areas. It also would force employers to verify workers’ legal status.
The House bill did not include a guest-worker provision.
“The Senate is much more inclined to do something along the lines of what the president wants than the House was,” said Grover Norquist, a Republican strategist who often serves as an informal liaison between Congress and the White House.
Tancredo, a leader of the anti- immigration movement, said he believes there’s a “50-50 chance” that he and his followers can stop a guest-worker plan from passing in the Senate. He called the $247 million in Bush’s budget for a guest-worker program “wishful thinking.”
Tancredo said the U.S.’s sovereignty is being challenged: “That is the concept of a war.”
Tancredo and his followers are a “very vocal but minority group,” said Randy Johnson, a vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which backs a guest-worker plan. Many large businesses depend on immigrant labor.
But Johnson said it might be difficult to pass a guest-worker program this election year. He noted that lawmakers are under pressure not to endorse what opponents perceive as amnesty for illegal immigrants.
There’s a possibility that “the whole thing will roll into 2007 in the end,” Johnson said.
One of the Senate bills, sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., would allow illegal immigrants to pay a fine and enter a program to work toward permanent legal status.
A tougher bill in the Senate would require people to go back to their home country before entering a guest-worker program.
If any bill containing a guest- worker provision passes the Senate, it would be sent back to the House for a vote. And Norquist said that despite Tancredo and his supporters, there probably are enough House votes for the program to pass.
“At the end of the day, the Hispanic community will be really (angry) at anyone who is not helpful,” Norquist said.
