Bill, hope die in Senate

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published June 29, 2007

Once again, the U.S. Senate has proven itself to be incapable of compromise on a difficult issue, and the country will suffer as a result. Thursday's crushing defeat of a comprehensive approach to immigration likely kills any hope Congress will tackle it again until after the 2008 elections. In the meantime, those in search of a job or a better life will continue to pour over the border, and the 12-million illegal immigrants already in this country will continue to live and work in the shadows.

A bipartisan group that included Republicans Mel Martinez of Florida, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina along with Democrats such as Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Dianne Feinstein of California ought to have had a better chance of success. But they were no match for a pincer attack. From the right came demands for more emphasis on border enforcement and resistance to a reasonable path to citizenship. From the left came concerns about making the hurdles to citizenship too high and de-emphasizing family ties in granting legal entry to the country.

Those policy concerns could have been sorted out as the legislation progressed. But the 37 Republicans and 15 Democrats who conspired to kill the effort on a procedural vote Thursday were really bowing to the relentless political pressure from conservatives who fanned fears about foreign workers taking away jobs and mislabeled the bill as amnesty for immigrants who broke the law to get here. Such demagoguery divided the Senate Republicans and scared off Democrats from Republican-leaning states.

In another era, even a president nearing the end of his second term could have kept the immigration debate going. But the war in Iraq and other blunders have left President Bush so politically irrelevant he could not even count on the support of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on the decisive vote.

The immigration bill had its flaws, but Martinez and the rest of its supporters rose above the rhetoric to craft a comprehensive approach that deserved more time and consideration.

The critics who prematurely killed this legislation now have the burden of explaining how they would effectively deal with 12-million illegal immigrants and why they chose to allow the current situation to fester for another two years.

[Last modified June 28, 2007, 22:39:21]