Essay 4038

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

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Don’t let immigration bill be job America won’t do

The scary thing about the repeated failures of President Bush and Congress to push through that urgently needed, long-discussed, continually nitpicked immigration reform is that each time it is swatted down, nativists bent on making life miserable for the 12 million illegal immigrants in the country are increasingly feeling their oats. The longer members of Congress dicker over amendments and technicalities and voting procedures, the more the basic elements of the measure -- tougher border security and a path to citizenship -- get lost in the political haze.

This was never the sexiest issue for mainstream Americans, even those whose lives are directly affected by it through their reliance on low-wage immigrant workers. But from the day the president first proposed his guest worker program to last November when Democrats took control of Congress, Americans were thought to be open to comprehensive reform. Now, apparently, whatever sympathy was stirred up by the heartfelt statements of legal and illegal immigrants at mass rallies in various cities is fading. A Gallup Poll reveals of those Americans who have an opinion on the immigration bill -- and at this stage, most don’t -- three to one are against it. “Amnesty” has become even more of a loaded buzz word than it was: Most Americans polled don’t want people they see as violating the law getting anything resembling a free pass.

Bush, who has been roundly criticized for his failure to line up reluctant Republicans behind the bill, one of the major items left on his agenda, said the legislation was “temporarily derailed” following its late-hour crash last week and vowed to get it passed. Democrats say they are keen on renewing efforts to push it through, following a questionable decision by their majority leader, Sen. Harry Reid, to pull the bill rather than give Republicans more time to settle on what amendments to debate.

With the window of time for this legislation shutting -- there is no chance of acting on it once the presidential race heats up -- it is incumbent on Bush to use whatever clout he has left to line up Republicans behind it and for Reid to get it back on the Senate agenda. The more unproductive talk there is about the bill, the more tired people will become with it. Perhaps someone needs to engage Americans on an emotional level, to call into account the compassion for the underdog this country has always been known for. “Sometimes there are big problems that have to be addressed, and there’s no political gain in it and maybe even political loss,” said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, a key conservative Republican supporter of the bill. “You’ve got to do it, nonetheless.” We can only hope he’s right in predicting it will be done before the Senate’s July 4 recess.