4.12.2006

Immigration Bill Fallout

Denny Hastert and Bill Frist are working to distance themselves from the bill's harshness, the cowards! From the WaPo:

In the wake of this week's massive demonstrations, many House Republicans are worried that a tough anti-illegal-immigration bill they thought would please their political base has earned them little benefit while becoming a lightning rod for the fast-growing national movement for immigrant rights.

House Republicans rushed through legislation just before Christmas that would build hundreds of miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, require that businesses verify the legality of all employees' status through a national database, fortify border patrols, and declare illegal immigrants and those who help them to be felons. After more lenient legislation failed in the Senate last week, the House-passed version burst into the public consciousness this week, as hundreds of thousands of protesters across the country turned out to denounce the bill.

Yesterday, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) issued a joint statement seeking to deflect blame for the harshest provisions of the House bill toward the Democrats, who they said showed a lack of compassion. "It remains our intent to produce a strong border security bill that will not make unlawful presence in the United States a felony," Hastert and Frist said.
Elsewhere in WaPo, Bush also acts like the cowardly lion on immigration:
White House spokeswoman Erin Healey said she would not divulge internal discussions about what the president agreed to say last week, but she asserted that Bush has been "very engaged in this issue." She reiterated his support for a comprehensive bill that would tighten border patrols, toughen the enforcement of laws outlawing employment of undocumented workers, and expand a temporary guest-worker program for both illegal immigrants and legal foreign workers seeking access to the U.S. labor market.

Last night, citing Bush's Saturday radio address, in which he spoke of "a promising bipartisan compromise," Healey said Bush had expressed "strong support" for the Senate agreement.

With Bush on the sidelines, it may be the demonstrators who will drive the process forward.

As he watched tens of thousands of marchers in the streets of Phoenix, Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) noted that the demonstration kicked off with a rendition of the national anthem amid a sea of U.S. flags. Shadegg voted for the House bill, but he said yesterday's orderly, patriotic marches should help the cause of lawmakers from both parties who want to temper the bill and add an avenue to legal employment.