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GOP delegates divided over party's immigration position By Sergio Bustos, Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON — The question of what to do about millions of illegal immigrants is causing a rift among Republicans only days before their party's convention begins in New York.
Party conservatives are angry that the GOP's influential platform committee, which decides the party's principles and priorities, is endorsing President Bush's plan to create a nationwide temporary foreign worker program. That program, which the president outlined in January, would legalize the country's 8 million to 10 million illegal immigrants. Conservatives view the proposal as an amnesty program that essentially rewards illegal immigrants for breaking the law. They have pledged to fight against it at the convention. Leading the charge is GOP Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado lawmaker whose opposition to the president's plan has drawn national attention. "The Republican Party platform on immigration smacks of doublespeak and goes against everything the American people believe should happen with our immigration policy," said Tancredo. "Amnesty is not an option." A final draft of the GOP's position on immigration will be presented to convention delegates Monday. Tancredo plans to hold a news conference that day to denounce it. The draft states that the party opposes amnesty "because it would have the effect of encouraging illegal immigration and would give an unfair advantage to those who have broken our laws." But it also approves Bush's plan to "allow workers who currently hold jobs to come out of the shadows and to participate legally in America's economy." Bush wants to create an ambitious national guest-worker program that would match willing foreign workers with willing U.S. employers. Undocumented immigrants who prove they have a job would be given renewable three-year visas but would have to return home when the visa expires. "The Republican Party supports reforming the immigration system to make it more legal, safe, orderly and humane," the draft said. That language sparked debate Wednesday, when the committee began deliberating the party platform. "How do we make something 'more legal?' " asked Bonnie Weber, a delegate from Reno, where she is a Washoe County commissioner. GOP Rep. Melissa Hart of Pennsylvania, who co-chairs the platform committee, responded, "It's clear there is a concern among many Americans that there are a number of people in the United States who have come to the United States illegally. Our goal is to make sure that people who come to the United States come here legally." That didn't satisfy Weber or other delegates. "Illegal is illegal," Weber told Hart. "We are trying to be positive and forward-thinking and reasonable in what we expect out of our system," Hart said. Richard Lessner, executive director of the American Conservative Union, said conservatives will be disappointed with the platform's position on illegal immigration. "While the document reflects the president's opposition to amnesty, conservatives will recognize the language as the same, tired euphemism for amnesty that has been used since the idea was first floated in January," he said. Lessner said the idea was "dead on arrival" among conservatives when Bush first broached it, "and it is still offensive." "The document should contain language that reaffirms America's need to preserve sovereignty over our borders and an outright refusal to reward lawbreakers," he said. |
