The last comprehensive immigration reform took place in the Ronald
Reagan administration in 1986. There were a lot fewer undocumented
workers then, and it is widely regarded by conservative groups as a
failed amnesty bill for “illegal aliens.” “The legislation was meant to
tighten border security and crack down on employers hiring undocumented
immigrants, while offering amnesty to those already in the country
illegally. Three million immigrants were legalized, but the law did not
slow illegal immigration or create a framework to deal with it going
forward. Since then, opponents of comprehensive reform have often cited
the 1986 legislation as a reason to be wary.
“‘For 20 years [make that 30 to bring this current] our country has done
basically nothing to enforce the 1986 legislation against either the
employers who hired illegal immigrants or those who crossed our borders
illegally to work for them,’ then-Arizona Governor and later Homeland
Security Secretary Janet Napolitano wrote in 2007.” Washington Post
(1/30/13). A staunch right wing Republican faction has committed itself
to opposing any further paths to citizenship for any undocumented
workers and to further limit and tighten the standards for even
legitimate applicants for residency and ultimate citizenship. It was not
lost on these GOP conservatives that the bulk of these “new Americans”
were much more likely to vote Democratic.
In 1996, the Clinton administration tried again. Lots of smoke, but
little changed. “Partisan and intraparty disputes over how far to go
caused multiple delays. Attempts at a national identification card went
nowhere, as did legislation -- introduced by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) --
that would deprive the children of undocumented immigrants of
citizenship. (Reid apologized for that legislation in 2006, calling it
the ‘low point’ of his career.)
“Clinton ultimately signed a spending bill that included increased
border security and made it harder to get asylum in the U.S. Attempts at
harsher measures, such as barring undocumented immigrants from public
schools and limiting legal immigrants' access to health and welfare
services, were watered down. Most were rolled back by Republicans after
their Latino support dropped markedly in the 1996 election…
“[In 2000,] President Clinton pushed for amnesty for hundreds of
thousands of immigrants left in legal limbo by a technical screw-up
involving the 1986 law and offered a path to citizenship for hundreds of
thousands of Central Americans. Republicans blocked that effort, but
(again mindful of electoral concerns) passed their own legislation
addressing the 1986 issue and family members of legal residents. Clinton
threatened another showdown, but after Democrats lost the 2000 election
he backed off and signed the GOP bill.” The Post. That GOP
anti-immigration reform faction dug in its heels even more.
With his Texas roots in a state filled with Hispanic voters, President
George W Bush was most anxious to get comprehensive immigration reform
on the books, but his own party put the kibosh on multiple efforts. Even
later, during the Obama years, when immigration reform actually passed
the US Senate, GOP speaker John Boehner would not let that bill out for a
House floor vote… and reform died again. The House probably would have
passed the bill, and Obama would have signed it. The right wing bloc
that opposed that reform had triumphed.
In the mess that represents a highly polarized Congress today, although
Republicans have a majority in both Houses, that right wing
anti-immigration faction intends to oppose any path to citizenship for
those DACA kids, even as proposed by their own president, and clearly
will want a much tougher overall immigration policy that will never pass
if the Democrats invoke cloture rules in the Senate. While DACA-centric
legislation may now reach the House floor, as pledged by Republican
House Speaker Paul Ryan, and while GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell may accomplish that feat in the upper chamber, looking for
that comprehensive immigration reform seems as elusive as ever… even
Donald Trump’s harsh version of that concept.
So it’s not just a GOP-Democrat divide that’s blocking comprehensive
immigration reform; it’s a massive schism within the Republican Party
itself. The right wing faction wants to throw all undocumented residents
out and then slam the door closed for the foreseeable future, allowing
no more than a trickle of potential legal immigrants. Polls tell us that
70% of American support allowing DACA residents (“Dreamers”) to remain
in the United States and most actually even favor a path to citizenship.
So what? Those conservatives will not budge.
“Lawmakers in both parties say they want to protect the Dreamers as part
of a broader immigration bill that would include border security and
perhaps other measures, and they believe a bipartisan deal would easily
pass both chambers… However, Ryan is under pressure from conservatives
in his majority to stand by his earlier promise not to consider
immigration legislation unless it is supported by most of the House
Republican majority… More recently, Ryan has said he would consider
legislation that Trump supports, but the president’s own shifting views
on immigration have made a legislative deal difficult.” Los Angeles
Times, February 8th. DACA legislation is the most we really can expect,
and that is hardly guaranteed. But comprehensive immigration reform
emanating from a GOP-majority-controlled Congress? LOL!
I’m Peter Dekom, and the Statue of Liberty probably wants to return to France right now.
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