ROLL CALL

-  January 9, 2006,  Morton M. Kondracke, Executive Editor

Bush Must Talk Sense to Republicans on Immigration

           It’s up to Bush to avoid stalemate — and there are lots of good arguments he can use to pull his party together.  On the merits, he can show that enforcement-only immigration policy simply doesn’t work.  According to the Migration Policy Institute, overall spending on immigration enforcement increased from $1 billion in 1985 to $4.9 billion in 2002. Appropriations for the border patrol went up tenfold, and the number of agents rose eightfold.  Yet, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, the number of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. has averaged from 480,000 to 660,000 and a total of 9 million have entered since 1990.

            The National Immigration Forum, which advocates both stronger enforcement and earned legalization, estimates that the average cost of making an arrest at the border has increased from $300 in 1992 to $1,700 in 2002.  Talk-show hosts are right to argue that illegal immigration is out of control and that terrorists can smuggle their way into the U.S. along with workers. To the extent possible, the border should be sealed, and Bush should vow to do it.

            But he also should make the obvious case to Republicans — and get help from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in doing so — that there aren’t enough U.S. workers to fill the jobs immigrants generally take.   He also should make the political case that his efforts to woo Hispanic voters into the GOP — which has been successful when backed by welcoming rhetoric — will suffer if the party develops an exclusionist reputation.

            And he can cite evidence from 2005 elections in Virginia and California: Anti-immigrant campaigns don’t win.

            There’s a foreign policy angle to be argued.… The United States has every interest in encouraging the election next year of Felipe Calderon, the Harvard alumnus who is the nominee of Fox’s PAN party.  Finally, there’s evidence in a Tarrance Group poll that a combination of tough border enforcement and McCain-style earned legalization is popular. That plan beat an enforcement-and-deportation plan 58 percent to 33 percent — and that was just among likely Republican voters.

___________________________________

Seattle Irish Immigrant Support Group
P.O. Box 75123, Seattle WA 98175-0123
www.irishseattle.com

Committee Members:

CHAIR: Jim Cummins, 509-735-9298 / 509-948-5727, James.Cummins@verizon.net
VICE-CHAIR: Ed Harkin, 206-935-9343, Ed_Harkin@msn.com
SECRETARY: Mary Charles, 425-745-0137, MarCh173@msn.com
TREASURER: John Keane, 425-290-7839 / 206-387-1970, JKeane@irishclub.org
MEMBER: Barbara Birney, 425-706-7046 / 425-558-9966, BBirney@microsoft.com
MEMBER: Camilla Barrett, 425-745-1034, CamillaBarrett02@hotmail.com
MEMBER: Eddie & Niamh Doyle, 425-442-5703 / 425-688-7741, EddieDoyle@comcast.net
MEMBER: Eddie McLoughlin, 360-493-2160, emcloughlin7@aol.com
MEMBER: Michael Cullen, 425-870-6491 / 425-303-8000, MCullen19@hotmail.com
MEMBER: Roger O'Sullivan, 206-784-4590 / 206-679-5812, CladdCon@comcast.net

___________________________________