President Bush Won't Accept Enforcement Only

The Washington Times reports President Bush said yesterday that he would not accept any bill from Congress that does not include a guest-worker program and provisions to grant citizenship to at least some of the 12 million illegal aliens already in the country:

"Part of my job is to lead, and I did last night," Mr. Bush said. "I said I want a comprehensive bill because I understand there needs to be a comprehensive bill in order to make -- in order for us to achieve the objective."

The President is joining the Senate in trying to roll over Republican House members, who with the assistance of 36 Democrats passed the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act. That legislation is a hodgepodge of measures designed to regain control of the border and slow the flow of illegal immigrants across the border:

Makes illegal presence in the United States a crime, it is currently a civil offense.

Requires employers to verify the legal status of their workers. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), made it unlawful for employers to knowingly hire or employ aliens not eligible to work and required employers to check the identity and work eligibility documents of all new employees. Under IRCA, if the documents provided by an employee reasonably appear on their face to be genuine, an employer has met its document review obligation. The easy availability of counterfeit documents has turned IRCA into a sham.

Ends the "catch and release" policy for non-Mexican illegal aliens.

Authorizes the building of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border in parts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

Imposes tougher penalties for smuggling and re-entry.

Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all actions necessary and appropriate to achieve and maintain operational control over the entire land and maritime border.

In this morning's issue of MSNBC's “First Read,” reports on the rift between the President and those supporting enforcement first:

A GOP aide said the Guard proposal is like "the shiny piece of metal on the spinner lure," and that the President has "no credibility" on this issue with conservatives.

[. . .]

Back in October, Viq reminds us, 81 House conservatives wrote to Bush and insisted that any guest-worker program come after passage of a border enforcement bill. In the wake of the massive protests that have occurred in the interim, positions have only hardened on that score. The only way that a bill providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants can pass the House would appear to be without conservative support -- and with the help of Democrats, something that GOP leadership is loathe to do. Viq reminds us that Speaker Dennis Hastert has said in the past that as a matter of policy, the only way any bill passes the House is with "a majority of the majority."

Viq points out that there is precedent for rolling the conservative ranks and passing a bill with the help of Democrats -- in No Child Left Behind and, to a lesser degree, the Medicare prescription-drug benefit. But both happened back when Bush was doing much better in the polls and could effectively twist arms among Republicans. And Democrats, Viq points out, will be reluctant to hand Bush and Republicans any kind of victory six months before election day.

Viq is right about the reluctance of the Democrats. Remember who scuttled April's immigration reform compromise, and why.

Comments

[California Yankee]

Dan, I'm begining to think we might get a bill and that I may not like it very much.

[dan]

Nice Blog You don't really think we will get a bill out of washington do you