Washington – The compromise immigration plan unveiled Thursday by a coalition of Republicans and Democrats offers the best prospect of congressional action on the explosive issue this year – perhaps for several years to come.
But the immediate attacks that greeted the proposal from left and right suggest the latest push for change, while representing a potential breakthrough, could once again end in stalemate.
At the very least, the criticism shows that the bill’s supporters will need to do a lot of arm-twisting on both sides of the aisle.
“This is far from over,” Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif., said, assailing the provision that gives illegal workers a path to eventual legal standing and citizenship as “amnesty, amnesty and amnesty.”
And the provisions on future citizenship were by no means the only ones to come under fire.
One Democrat, Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, objected that the guest-worker program would threaten to drive down wages of American workers.
“America’s workers have enough downward pressure on their wages because of unfair trade deals and corporate outsourcing of millions of jobs every year,” he said. “The last thing they need now is to have an inflow of millions of more immigrants competing for their jobs at substandard wages.”
And Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., signaled that he wants to tighten border security and “repair the woefully inadequate legal immigration process before we move to an amnesty-based immigration system.”
Among the Republicans, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa objected to a provision that he said would give the Department of Homeland Security “unlimited, open-ended access to all Social Security data including confidential tax return information.”
The provision Grassley challenged is designed to create a workable employment verification system, but he said it would take a “wrecking ball” to the balance between taxpayer privacy and legitimate law enforcement.
Still, the bipartisan Senate agreement – and its support across the political spectrum from liberal Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., to conservative Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and President Bush – should improve its prospects.
“I like the chances,” said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. “The fact that they have such a broad coalition in the Senate bodes well for the House.”
Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif., who has pushed for a guest-worker program that would benefit his agricultural- rich district, predicted the measure would pass.
Even with bipartisan Senate backing and Bush’s support, some analysts said supporters will need to round up as many as 70 Republicans to get the measure through the House because of opposition from Democrats in conservative districts.
“If 70 is what they need, I think we’ve got 70 Republicans,” Flake said.
