WASHINGTON—A fragile immigration compromise he helped draft was being buffeted by attacks from the right and the left, but if Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., was worried or preoccupied, he didn’t show it.
On a recent day, he sat on a worn sofa in one of the U.S. Capitol’s noisy lobbies and methodically outlined the reasons he believes the bill is the right thing to do: It fortifies the border and introduces tough measures to prevent employers from hiring illegal workers, while also legalizing many of the 12 million unlawful immigrants now in the U.S.
In essence, it’s a good bill because it’s a compromise, he said, “It’s tough, it’s fair, and it’s practical.”
In his almost three years in the Senate, Salazar has injected himself into nearly every major issue of the day. On the immigration issue, however, he has been a central player. He was one of 12 senators who helped craft compromises behind the scenes, and he has defended it to the press and in debates on the Senate floor with the same methodical earnestness.
The debate over the bill is in its critical hours now, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., planning to cut off debate as early as Thursday. If the bill survives, it would be one of the most significant pieces of legislation passed by Congress this year.
Salazar says that’s reason enough to be involved.
“I think as a United States senator, the most effective thing I can do for my state is help resolve major challenges that are facing our country today,” he said.
But as a Westerner, who studied to be a priest, and one of just three Hispanic senators, Salazar said he also has a special connection to the immigration issue.
The vast majority of the 1 million or more people who sneak into the country every year cross over the border from Mexico, migrating through Western states on their way to find work.
Salazar is quick to point out that his ancestors helped settle Santa Fe, centuries before it became part of the United States, making him less of an immigrant than most senators. He grew up in a bilingual household on a farm in Colorado’s San Luis Valley that had no electricity until 1981.
That background may be part of the reason why immigrants sometimes shyly approach him at church or in restaurants, tentatively asking for help with their immigration status or to assist family members who want to enter the U.S.
“I’ve walked in their shoes in the sense that I’ve been a laborer on farms,” Salazar said. “So I think my own experience gives me some special insight into the human suffering and the challenges that are associated with this debate.”
Over and over, Salazar has explained that the Senate bill would bring illegal immigrants “out of the shadows of our society out into the sunlight of society.” He and other supporters have repeated it so many times, the phrase now makes some observers roll their eyes.
But Salazar says the current immigration policy has created “an underclass of people,” and he believes correcting it is a moral issue.
“We need to deal with that hurt from a Christian perspective,” he said.
Yet lots of people believe the Senate bill is the wrong solution.
As with most of the senators pushing for the bill, angry phone calls, e-mails and letters—from opponents on the right and the left—have poured into Salazar’s office in the two weeks since the immigration bill was introduced.
Many believe the proposal is dangerously weak. They say it would reward law-breakers and fear that it would fail to guard the border against terrorists.
Colorado Republican Sen. Wayne Allard on Tuesday introduced a major challenge—which was eventually defeated—that would have made it more difficult for some immigrants to get lawful status.
Allard’s amendment would have eliminated extra points that illegal immigrants could get toward legal status for work done while they were in the U.S. illegally, owning a home, or having health insurance. The proposed merit-based system would award the most credit for employment criteria such as education and skill level.
Others, including New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the only Hispanic in the presidential race, have criticized the bill for making it too difficult for workers to get legal status.
Some Senate Democrats still plan to try to amend the bill to give preference to immigrants seeking legal status who have family living in the U.S.
Salazar said he’s sympathetic to many of those who want to amend the bill. But such provisions could threaten the tenuous agreement that hinges on the support of people like Salazar, who believe that compromise is better than nothing.
“I think there are some people who would rather score political points on the immigration debate than get to the solutions,” he said. “For me, this is an issue about getting the job done that is very important to our national and economic security.”
“There are lots of different thoughts about how we get there,” he added, “but what we have in this legislation is a very good framework on how we are both tough and compassionate at the same time.”
