"“People like to really vilify Lamar Smith, but he is not Tom Tancredo,” said Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, which favors putting illegal immigrants on the path to legal status. “He is someone who will not push legislation if he thinks it doesn’t have the wide support of the American people.”
Camarota said he believes Smith is enough of a dealmaker that he might even consider a modified DREAM Act legalizing young immigrants, if it was coupled with a cut in legal immigration and stronger enforcement — although pro-immigrant advocates would be all but certain to dismiss it as a bad deal.
“He is a very cautious guy, personally and politically,” Camarota said. “Every time I have talked with him, all of his staffers, he is a very careful guy. Contrast that with someone like Steve King, who is willing to say what is on his mind.”
That is not to say, however, that pro-immigration activists are at all comfortable with Smith’s agenda or even agree with the logic behind his approach —that reducing the number of illegal immigrants frees up jobs for legal workers and pushes down the unemployment rate.
“He is a very disciplined politician, but he is also very ideological. He is very smart at having lots of smallish-looking measures that add up to a whole lot of harsh enforcement,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, which supports more enforcement but only if it’s coupled with a broad legalization program.
Even as he pursues his jobs-first approach, Smith could find others in the GOP caucus — such as Rep. King — want him to go further.
A sign-in book outside King’s office encapsulated the roiling debate. One visitor wrote “No amnesty.” Another visitor penned, “Remember your ancestors were immigrants too” — but it was countered by a sharp response from a different visitor, “That came here legally.”
Known for his controversial remarks — he once said the country should deport a liberal for every illegal immigrant who receives citizenship — King has many of his own ideas, although he declined to discuss them until Smith announces all the subcommittee chairmanships in early 2011.
“I read the Pledge to America. It wasn’t particularly moving,” King said. “So, OK, they decided not to write the treatise that I would have on immigration. It wouldn’t be the first time that I worked on an agenda that wasn’t laid out for me. I can deal with that.” "
old article but i didnt see it on here, maybe there is hope
