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Movement on Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation Detected Even While
Past GOP Supporters Continue Their March Away From It
By Micheal E. Hill
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 -- 8:45 am EDT
Multiple press reports indicate that President Obama has personally intervened and that new life may be being breathed into the comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) legislative movement. However, even while President Obama reaches out across the aisle and the House and Senate Democratic Leadership begins to send signals that a CIR bill may be brought forward before the end of the year, key Republicans continue to throw cold water on the prospects for bipartisan support for immigration reform legislation this year.
Indiciations of possible new life for CIR came late on Tuesday, April 20, after what had been a tumultuous day in immigration politics. April 20 included comments by Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) implying that Latiinos might be ill-served by voting Democratic and that he might advise Latinos to stay home and not vote at all in November if Congress does not move comprehensive immigration refom legislation; a broiling controversy over whether the Governor of Arizona will sign a groundbreaking immigration enforcement measure that Latinos fear would result in racial profiling and hardship for Latinos in Arizona; the emergence of unusually harsh statements from Washington-based pro-immigrant advocates about the Obama Administration's immigration efforts; and a continuation of stunning reversals on CIR legislation by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
According to the office of Senator Scott Brown (R-MA), President Obama called the freshman senator on Tuesday, April 20, from Air Force One and asked him to keep an open mind on comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) legislation. According to The Wall Street Journal, Brown said that the President was giving him a heads-up that immigration was likely to come up soon and he should give it some serious thought. The Wall Street Journal quoted the Senator as saying, "[The President] called me originally about illegal immigration, something that he wanted me to look at that was coming down the pike." The Senator said he "told him and others that I will read anything and make a judgement when it comes forth." Brown went on to say that "[w]hen I said I have an open mind, it means I have an open mind to read the bill. That doesn't mean that I will vote for granting amnesty to anyone. But I want to be respectful to the President and to any member who brings me a proposal."
The Senator's communications director said that "Senator Brown told the President that he would review any legislation if it came before the Senate, but he believes that the immediate focus should be on fixing the economy and creating jobs."
The Call from President Obama to Senator Brown was confimed by White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton, who told reporters aboard Air Foce One that the President called to talk about two isssues. However, Burton did not elaborate on what the two issues were.
Earlier on Tuesday, Representative Gutierrez excoriated President Obama and his Administration for their failure to press for CIR legislation, suggesting that Latinos could stay home rather than vote Democratic in November if Congress does not move CIR legislation this year. Later in the day, the Congressman said he had spoken to Senate Majority Leader Reid and that as a result of that conversation, he believed there was a narrow window to move a bill in the Senate between Memorial Day and July 4, when he projected that the Senate will turn its attention to hearings for Obama's nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
But much of the optimism that might have been engendered by the President's call to Senator Brown and the pledges from the joint House-Senate Democratic Leadership may have been difused by comments made later in the day by Senators Graham and McCain.
Continuing what has been a stunning reversal on immigration for Senator McCain, the 2008 GOP Presidential nominee and past chief sponsor of comprehensive immigration reform legislation said on KFYI radio in Arizona yesterday that he would lead a filibuster to block consideration of a comprehensive immigration reform bill should such a measure be brought before the Senate this year. "I believe that we can convince our Republican colleagues that we have to secure the border first," McCain said yesterday. "There's no point of having immigration reform unless you can have the borders secure first" he continued. "That must be done for us to move forward with any immigration reform," McCain added during a separate ingerview on KQTH radio. And as if to add an exclamation point to his reversal of position, Senator McCain went on to say of a comprehensive immigration reform bill being developed by Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham, "I don't really see it going anywhere. Jon Kyl and I will fight against it until the borders are secure."
Senator Graham, himself, did his part to throw cold water on any momentum that the President's intervention might bring to the CIR legislative movement. The South Carolina Senator, who is the cosponsor along with Senator Schumer of a CIR bill being drafted, told Politico yesterday, "with the toxic environment after healthcare, I just don't think you're going to get a lot of moderate Democrats jumping into the comprhehensive immigration debate this close to an election year." Graham suggested that pursuit of a number of border security measures pused by Senators McCain and John Kyl (R-AZ) ealier this week might be a way to open the door to CIR legislation. However, he suggested that the door to CIR under that scenario would not open until next year or later, saying "if something like that [the McCain/Kyl border security plan] passed, you could go to the body next year and say, okay, let's look at all the moving parts."
White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton addressed the controversy yesterday, saying that "[comprehensive immigration reform] is an issue that is very important to the President. It's something that I know that the Senate Majority Leader has said is going to see action this year. And we're obviously in consultation with both Republicans and Democrats to find a bipartisan solution to what is a very large problem and one that we think will be addressed very soon."
Only time will tell whether Tuesday's movement on comprehensive immigration reform is groundbreaking or whether it is just another in a series of false alarms.
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