Wanted: a Republican senator willing to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats and the Administration on a bipartisan bill that's already half done on immigration reform. The Democrats have been scrambling to find such a brave soul since Republican Senator Lindsey Graham left the talks after Dems shelved a global warming bill he'd been working on. Democratic negotiators Chuck Schumer of New York, Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have even unveiled the bones of the bill that they'd hammered out with Graham in the hopes of luring another Republican on board. "What [Republicans] said before the Democrats produced the framework is that we need to see the paper," says Frank Sharry, director of America's Voice, an immigration advocacy group. "Now that they've seen the paper they seem to be finding other reasons not to sign on."
Of the 23 Senate Republicans who voted for immigration reform in 2006, five have since lost their seats, six have retired, one switched parties, four more are retiring this year. Meanwhile, Bob Bennett of Utah just saw his nomination as G.O.P. candidate upended by the state's Tea Party; and John McCain of Arizona is facing the toughest Senate race of his career. In fact, many in the immigration world believe that Graham walked away from the negotiating table in part to protect his dear friend McCain, who can ill-afford a partisan brawl on immigration. The fact that McCain co-authored and voted for the 2006 comprehensive reform bill is what got him into such hot water with Arizona Republican primary voters in the first place. (See pictures of immigration detention in Arizona.)
So, immigration groups are left with wooing three retiring Republicans senators: Ohio's George Voinovich, New Hampshire's Judd Gregg and Indiana's Dick Lugar. (A fourth, Sam Brownback, is running for governor of Kansas and has no interest in tackling political third rails at this point.) They're also working on the two moderate Senators from Maine and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski: all three voted for the 2006 bill. Obama called Republican Senators Scott Brown, Lugar, George LeMieux (a Florida Republican who is finishing Mel Martinez's term until Sunshine State voters pick a permanent replacement), Murkowski and Gregg from Air Force One last month — but so far no one has signed on. "Although Senator Gregg is interested in fixing our broken immigration system and especially encouraging talented people to come here legally, he does not support any initiative promoting comprehensive reform until the President and this Administration get serious about controlling our borders," said Laena Fallon, explaining Gregg's continued reluctance to negotiate.
|