Here’s a definition of political irony: Congressman Bob Beauprez wants to be Colorado governor so he can lobby his former colleagues and his successor to fix immigration.
Beauprez says that if elected, he’ll lead a coalition of Western governors to pressure Congress for pragmatic and politically acceptable immigration reform.
This, of course, begs the question of why Beauprez believes he can do from Denver what he couldn’t do in Washington the past four years.
“I really do think governors have more clout than anyone other than the president,” the Republican candidate said in an interview Thursday.
“I don’t know how many Congresses it’s going to take to get illegal-immigration reform. But governors, because we (in Congress) almost never see them, when we do, it’s kind of an oh-my-God moment. We’ve got a governor in front of us. Let’s pay attention. … I’m not indicting myself as being ineffective. I don’t think that’s been the case. But where there are nine members of the federal delegation, there is one governor.”
He would be, unfortunately, a single state executive trying to solve what everybody agrees is a nationwide problem.
Beauprez’s desire to corral and go east with other state heads from California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Nevada is admirable. But his old friends in the U.S. House of Representatives must break the legislative gridlock that stymies comprehensive immigration reform.
As long as the House refuses to convene a conference committee to work out differences in bills passed by the House and the Senate, there will be no immigration reform. If Beauprez was not part of that problem, he surely wasn’t able to fashion a solution.
To his credit, Beauprez sounds more like President Bush than Tom Tancredo these days. He knows that could cost him votes among the party’s conservative, anti-illegal-immigrant base.
Beauprez wants secure borders and as close to a foolproof ID system as 21st century technology allows. He wants a law that requires employers to use the Homeland Security Department’s Basic Pilot program to match workers’ Social Security numbers with their names.
“You pick a certain date, hopefully not too far in the future, and say, ‘Mr. and Ms. Employer, by this date, you have to be on this system.’
“Over a relatively short period of time, I would hope that the problem largely self-corrects itself.”
Relying on self-correction in the hiring of immigrants is like leading coalitions of governors to do what you couldn’t do as a congressman. Both are exercises in optimism unsupported by experience.
The same goes for thinking 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. will self-deport in order to get work visas and return legally. This is something else Beauprez believes.
He favors a program that would make undocumented workers leave the country but let them return in a matter of weeks with work visas if they pass a criminal background check, health exam, pay back taxes and have a sponsoring employer.
“Could that be a quick process?” he asked. “In my mind, yes.”
Not only in his mind, but in the minds of Republican Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, both of whom have made similar proposals in Congress. Colorado’s current governor, Bill Owens, also backs such a leave-and-return policy.
“It would have very broad support,” Beauprez predicted.
The problem is, the Republican House leadership doesn’t support it. Neither does the Senate leadership. House leaders cling to an enforcement-only law that would remove illegal immigrants for years before they could return legally. The Senate passed an immigration bill that calls for a guest-worker program administered on this side of the border.
All of this leaves you wondering if Gov. Beauprez would be any better at immigration reform than Rep. Beauprez was.
As the congressman himself pointed out: “You solve problems where problems exist.”
Jim Spencer’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 303-820-1771 or jspencer@denverpost.com.
