Divisions in Republican party are key to immigration reform debate

Ianus · 04-28-2013, 01:03 AM

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepo...205029711.html

Quote:

Washington - Republican Paul Ryan made an attention-getting move on immigration last week, pairing up with House Democrat Luis Gutierrez of Chicago to press for big, bipartisan reforms, including a path to citizenship for many of the millions of immigrants here illegally.

But how many of his GOP colleagues are with him?

"I don't think it's going anywhere in the House," said fellow Wisconsin Republican Jim Sensenbrenner, who has opposed a path to citizenship. "Absolutely, I have a different view than Congressman Ryan."

The divisions within the GOP are a huge key to the politics of immigration reform. While immigration has been a highly partisan issue in Congress, "Republicans have been more divided" than Democrats, says University of Minnesota political scientist Kathryn Pearson, who has studied immigration voting in the House and Senate.

The same is true of the public at large.

In both state and national polls, Republican voters are more fractured than Democrats over what do about immigrants here illegally. And they are less supportive of allowing them to stay in the United States permanently or become citizens.

Ryan, the party's 2012 vice presidential candidate, has planted himself on one side of that intraparty debate. He has praised a bipartisan Senate plan to beef up border security, crack down on illegal hiring, allow more skilled immigrants into the U.S., and make it possible for undocumented immigrants to one day become citizens if they pay fines and back taxes, hold jobs and learn English. (The measure was crafted by the so-called Senate Gang of Eight, which includes Republicans John McCain and Marco Rubio and Democrats Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin.)

Ryan, the House budget chair, is also trying to help broker a bipartisan House bill that probably would be a more conservative version of the Senate plan. It's a more proactive role than Ryan typically takes on nonbudget issues.

"It's a very serious issue and surrounded by lots of confusion," Ryan said in an interview Friday. "I see the possibility of a bipartisan solution and want to help nurture that along."

Citizenship a key issue

Among all the tricky issues, none has been harder to resolve than how to deal with the millions of immigrants who came here illegally. Democrats in Congress overwhelmingly support an "earned" path to citizenship, contingent on things such as fines, taxes, good conduct, and a years-long wait, so undocumented immigrants aren't placed "in line" ahead of applicants following the rules.

But there's a GOP divide between those like Ryan who think a path to citizenship is essential and those like Sensenbrenner who think that under past and current proposals, it's tantamount to "amnesty."

"I think a vast majority of the Republican caucus will be against amnesty no matter what it's called," says Sensenbrenner, who passed a get-tough immigration bill in the House as Judiciary Committee chair in 2005 that sparked furious protests among immigrant and Latino groups.

Sensenbrenner views the Senate bill crafted by the Gang of Eight as another version of amnesty, rewarding lawbreakers.

"The sponsors will not call it amnesty. They'll call it a 'pathway to citizenship' or 'comprehensive reform,' just like they did in 2007," Sensenbrenner said.

Ryan says the Senate plan can be improved, but he disputes Sensenbrenner's view of that proposal.

"You cannot claim that it's amnesty," says Ryan, citing the penalties in the plan, and the more than decade-long wait before an undocumented immigrant can seek citizenship.

"Jim is one of my closest friends, and no two friends agree on every issue at all times," Ryan says. "I'm against amnesty. . . . (But) we cannot deport 11 million people even if we tried. . . . We need to have a system that brings people out of the shadows, respects the rule of law and doesn't reward people for cutting in line."

Assuming the Senate agrees on a plan, the big political question is how many House Republicans go along with any bill that provides a path to citizenship.

Another Wisconsin Republican, Tom Petri of Fond du Lac, said he hasn't studied the Senate bill, but sounded skeptical.

"Before we legalize or deal with people here illegally, we have to give ourselves the assurance that this won't open the door for further waves of illegal immigration," said Petri, who suggested Sensenbrenner's stance, as a member and former chair of the Judiciary Committee, would carry weight with him.

"I'm sure he'll be vigilant," Petri said.

Johnson weighs in

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson probably will get to vote on the issue before the House does. In an interview, Johnson did not rule out support for a path to citizenship and said he doesn't view the Gang of Eight proposal as an amnesty bill.

"You can argue with whether the level of fine is large enough, but if you're making somebody pay a penalty for an illegal act, that's not amnesty," Johnson said.

Johnson said he wants to get a bill passed, but noted that the Senate should have a protracted debate and the GOP-controlled House should be involved "at the front end, not the back end."

He also suggested the major pieces of the bill - border security, employment verification, guest workers, legal status for the undocumented - should be debated and possibly voted on in separate, sequential steps, saying, "If you try and combine everything into one huge bill out of the blocks, it's too easy for it to fall apart."

Democrats and some Republicans view that approach as fatal to enacting any legislation, saying the issue involves so many hard policy trade-offs and compromises that it has to be moved in one giant package.

Democrats also view any House bill without a path to citizenship as a "nonstarter."

"I don't think it would get a (single) Democratic vote" in the Senate, Schumer, a New York Democrat, said last week.

"The 2012 election pretty dramatically changed the landscape in terms of immigration being on the agenda," says political scientist Pearson, referring to President Barack Obama's victory and the GOP's poor performance with Latino voters.

"The question is whether it changes Republican preferences in the House," she said.

2Face · 04-28-2013, 01:25 AM

Well if Citizenship is the main issue than lets see if the Democrats can take that out of there...but that means we can't be put on a path to permanent residency either because by law permanent residency leads to Citizenship. Someone has to budge. I like the way the GOP does not want to introduce legislation to deport us but at the same time want to oppose legalization attempts. Man the House is playing spoil sport. They're about to f**k everything up. SMH...If CIR does not pass this year, I am honestly doubtful of our future. DACA is good and all but it is just a temporary relief for only the kids..what about the rest?

dtrt09 · 04-28-2013, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2Face

Well if Citizenship is the main issue than lets see if the Democrats can take that out of there...but that means we can't be put on a path to permanent residency either because by law permanent residency leads to Citizenship. Someone has to budge. I like the way the GOP does not want to introduce legislation to deport us but at the same time want to oppose legalization attempts. Man the House is playing spoil sport. They're about to f**k everything up. SMH...If CIR does not pass this year, I am honestly doubtful of our future. DACA is good and all but it is just a temporary relief for only the kids..what about the rest?

"The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for." —Maureen Dowd

The Senate bill is s**t already, to worsen the legislation and make legalization absolutely unattainable only benefits Democrats politically so they can say they got this done, but the goal of legalization is precisely that, fair and attainable legalization for the undocumented. No. If this bill fails and the Republicans gain control of the Senate in the next election, and if they win the White House in 2016, do you think the Democrats will do something for us?

Pianoswithoutfaith · 04-28-2013, 03:19 PM

yeah but just keep in mind we are beggars, not choosers

natalie2288 · 04-28-2013, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2Face

Well if Citizenship is the main issue than lets see if the Democrats can take that out of there...but that means we can't be put on a path to permanent residency either because by law permanent residency leads to Citizenship. Someone has to budge. I like the way the GOP does not want to introduce legislation to deport us but at the same time want to oppose legalization attempts. Man the House is playing spoil sport. They're about to f**k everything up. SMH...If CIR does not pass this year, I am honestly doubtful of our future. DACA is good and all but it is just a temporary relief for only the kids..what about the rest?

weren't you the one that said that you won't take anything else than " travel authorization for my parents and a green card for me" ? and now you want the democrats to budge to appease the republicans for the sake of CIR?

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Divisions in Republican party are key to immigration reform debate