Iowa Governor signs state law officializing English

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Published April 9, 2006

Fall election freezes action on immigration

JANE NORMAN
REGISTER WASHINGTON BUREAU

Washington, D.C.  Irv Koethe of Dubuque is pretty clear on how he views
the roiling fight in the nation's capital over illegal immigration,
legalization and border security. "We have the laws all they have to do is
enforce them," said Koethe, 68, a retired engineer who tends to vote
Republican. "I think we should protect our borders." Koethe said the issue
is one he would consider when at the polls, and that's exactly what has
produced the current stalemate in Congress over what to do.

With a midterm election looming in which Republicans run the risk of
losing their control of both chambers in Congress, and the president's
popularity at record lows, politicians are conflicted on how to handle the
immigration issue. Iowans are giving some input. During the past week, as
the Senate fought over immigration, the phones were ringing with calls
from both sides in the offices of Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat, and Sen.
Charles Grassley, a Republican, aides to the senators said. While the
House passed a tough enforcement-only bill, the Senate has been wrestling
with proposals that would carve a path to citizenship for many immigrants
who are in the country illegally. Bush, who in 2004 captured the votes of
more than 40 percent of Hispanic voters, according to Election Day
surveys, has advocated some type of a guest worker program to allow some
foreigners to stay and work temporarily .

Unable to come to an agreement after two heated weeks of debate, senators
adjourned for the Easter recess on Friday, leaving immigration legislation
possibly stalled this year. The political implications are many. Deeply
involved in the Senate negotiations are a host of possible GOP
presidential candidates who will be courting Iowans in advance of the 2008
caucuses, such as Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, John McCain of
Arizona and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. Republicans are split between
pro-business groups that want legalization so they can continue to employ
immigrant workers and conservatives who are focused more on border
security and the risk to U.S. jobs. Republicans additionally risk inroads
they have made with Hispanic voters, analysts contend.

"For Republicans, it is particularly precarious," said David Redlawsk, a
political scientist at the University of Iowa. "Voters can look and say,
'Why didn't they get something done?' " U.S. Rep. Steve King, an Iowa
Republican who is a leader in the anti-guest worker movement, said his
party cannot do anything that will split off conservatives or risk
disgusting Republican voters so much that they stay home on Election Day.
That could mean the loss of House seats such as the open 1st District seat
in Iowa now held by Rep. Jim Nussle, a Republican who is leaving to run
for governor, King predicted. Immigration already has been an issue in the
Republican primary there.

"It reads like a page directly out of the Democrats' playbook on midterm
elections," King said. "Let Republicans self-destruct by splitting from
their base on a core issue." Any bill approved by Congress that includes
"amnesty," or forgiveness for coming into the country without permission,
will be a "breaking point" for the national Republican Party, he said.
Democrats say the overwhelming message from Republicans is one of
animosity to Hispanics and immigrants that has failed to succeed in
elections in California and other states. "They just want to demagogue
this," Harkin said. "They want to make this some kind of campaign issue
this year."

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a possible Democratic candidate for
president, said he wants to see Bush use his "political capital" to help
push legislation through. "This is a terrible problem for him with the
Republican Party," Richardson said. Grassley, however, contended it might
not be as bad as it seems. Hispanics are attracted to the Republican Party
because of their strong family structures and traditional values, he said,
and that may offset any losses over immigration policy. "You've got to
think of everything the Hispanic community stands for and what Republicans
have stood for," he said.

The issue also could reverberate for some Democrats perhaps in the
possible presidential campaign of Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who signed a
state law that mandated English as the state's official language. Vilsack
said the law was largely symbolic, yet later apologized to Hispanic
Democrats . Redlawsk predicted it will be remembered by Iowans whom
Vilsack needs to boost his campaign against challengers in his home state.
"There are people who still hold that against him in the Democratic
Party," Redlawsk said. Advocates for immigrants are distressed at the
standstill in Washington and vow they will continue to press their case in
protests involving millions of immigrants across the country during the
coming days.

On Monday, a "National Day of Action on Immigrant Rights" is scheduled,
including a rally on the National Mall in Washington. Democrats don't
escape blame for the Senate breakdown from Frank Sharry, executive
director of the National Immigration Forum, which wants a guest worker
program. He said that both parties are responsible for the lack of action,
and that few immigrants will understand the battle over procedures that
sank action in the Senate. "We don't want to be a political football," he
said.


Copyright  2005, The Des Moines Register.
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