|
If you are "deport-them-all" anti-illegal immigration absolutist, you won't like this post. But if, like the vast majority of Republicans, you understand the need to regularize most of the millions of people in the country illegally, read on.
First, read my interview with Tony Snow for background.
Next, understand that Senator Jon Kyl is a great American who in essence volunteered to conduct the political equivalent of a suicide mission, and that Tony Snow has been tasked with defending the result. Both are superb public servants and great conservatives, as is the president that Tony works for and with whom Senator Kyl is a partner. The fiasco of the past week may have been a necessary part of achieving clarity on the bill, and Senator Kyl’s request for a close reading of the bill is one every serious conservative ought to grant..
The extraordinary blowback against the Senate "deal" has its source in three realities: First, John McCain issued one of his famous diktats which was guaranteed to rend the GOP and he did it with the usual “screw you” tone (a tone he has taken to using with his Senate colleagues.) Dean’s got a theory on why Senator McCain acts this way, which is interesting –even compelling-- but also irrelevant to the damage the Arizona senator routinely inflicts on the GOP.
In addition to the terrible branding the bill got thanks to Senator McCain, the key issues for more than a majority of the conservatives were compromised away –border security and citizenship as opposed to residency. Some additional problems come with the award of social security benefits for years worked illegally in the country, etc.
Finally, the arrogance of announcing that a deal has been reached when it hadn’t even been written combined with the jam down schedule for Senate consideration of the vast bill struck many as the ultimate insult: Here is a vital bill of incredible importance on a subject that has been passionately debated for years, and the people aren’t even invited to the debate or given the text on around which the debate revolves. That is not how a republic operates, especially for people who take their citizenship seriously.
So, can the situation be salvaged? Only if the Democrats want a bill more than they want some short-term political advantage, and only if the White House realizes how badly it managed the rollout.
First, if Senator Kyl is willing to take another one for the team, he has to announce the revisions in the collective GOP position made in response to the tidal wave of criticism. Senator Kyl alone has the sort of standing with the GOP base as to make the revisions credible. If Senator Kyl comes forward with a half dozen revisions which the GOP will insist on, including construction of the entire fence and additional barriers that were authorized last year’s law prior to the beginning of the “paperwork period” for regularization and very clear, very easily quoted language that citizenship is not open to anyone who entered the country illegally for at least the 18 years an ordinary American born here must wait to exercise his or her franchise, the DOA bill will begin to show signs of life. The benefits question also looms large, as does the national security question: We should not treat Mexicans and Central American illegal immigrants the same as young men from Arab or Central Asian countries, period. This means a deeper, thorough background check of those who come from lands with very well-developed jihadist networks, but we cannot reasonably do anything else if national security matters. We cannot pass over the prospect that jihadist sleeper cells are in this country illegally that would be legitimized and empowered by the proposed "compromise." Similarly, the proposed expansion of the Border Patrol is simply not enough –I hope to get permission to post an e-mail below that I received from a Border Patrol agent on this subject. Enough of incrementalism –get the force to its necessary size for an era of global terror networks,
Finally, the debate on the Senate floor and the final version of the bill that will go to the House should take place before cloture is voted upon. Before the final Senate version is agreed to the Senate shoudl not guarantee passage over the cloture hurdle so often employed by the Democrats over the first six years of the Bush Administration. Here is where Republicans expect Leader McConnell to insist on the rights of the Senate minority to the full extent they were employed by the Democrats. Republicans have long insisted that filibusters of legislation are unobjectionable as they are rooted so deeply in Senate history, though filibusters of judicial nominees are not. Leader McConnell will earn extraordinary stature among the party loyalists if he demands and receives the very tools that the Dems so often employed during their minority years.
There is an urgent need to regularize the illegal population for a variety of reasons, and to assure the flow of legal immigrants into the country, a flow that has usually been welcomed and absorbed. The GOP rejects the natavism of the extreme right, of course, and there are compelling reasons to endorse guest worker programs and specialized skill visas. There is also a widely-held belief in compassionate treatment of the long resident illegal and their families. The e-mail from one illegal, posted below, testifies to the extraordinary complexity of the status of the millions who are watching and waiting for this debate to conclude in a fair result.
It is possible that Dems would not welcome a fair resolution of this situation, one that is urgently needed. But if that is the case, the GOP cannot simply abandon the core beliefs of the large majority of its members in order to get something done. President Bush is to the left of his party on this issue, and his stewardship of the party ought to oblige him to respect and insist upon the changes noted above. To proceed with John McCain’s jam down will have far-reaching an terrible effects on the party. The fact that both Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson denounced the deal is the truest signal of where the party is, and that signal should be noted and absorbed if the president wants his work of his eight years to be continued by a responsible successor in 2009.
Here’s where I will post the e-mail from the Border Patrol Agent when I get back his permission to do so:
[E-mail from Tucson BP Agent]
And here’s the e-mail from an illegal immigrant, “Abe”:
Yes, I am an illegal immigrant and my name is Abe. I came here when I was 3 and didn't even need a visa because I was just a child. I found out when I was 16 and wanted to get a drivers license that i was an illegal immigrant and did not have the documents to get one.
My point of view about this immigration bill is that it is not going to reach the president. This bill has been cought between people who for some reason demand more rights for us and those people who just do not want any more immgrants coming to the country. I myself feel that I grew up and was raised american but feel ashamed to be here illegally due to my parents actions. I would ask and like for some kind of immigration status be granted with restrictions but i'm not demanding it. Most people protesting and marching down los angeles are already citizens or premanent residents which do not speak for us. I am not unskilled or a high school drop out like some studies say. I don't understand these studies because they make up numbers about people they are not supposed to be able to find. I'm not here to take jobs americans won't do and i'm not here to get on welfare or use all of the goverment services. As a human i would like someone to help me if i need emergency help but i'm not going to the doctor if i have a cold.
I have been able to work for myself and pay taxes by getting a ITIN and filing a 1099 form because I do computer repair and network installations. I don't get money returned to me and I feel I do pay my fair share of taxes without using goverment services. I also do pay taxes because i think it will help my case if there is a record that shows that i have been paying taxes if i get any immigration status. Most illegals do this for the same reason. I would say a high percentage also speaks spanish and are very well educated but the news and the media only show the farm workers who live in poverty.
Like i said, I don't expect the bill to pass either but i hope there is a chance to have a path to becoming an american and coming out of the shadows. The talking points on tv and radio are kinda misleading. We want to stay informed that's why even illegal immigrants listen to consevative talk radio.
Thanks
Abe.
|