Holding our Breath

STORMY SEAS AHEAD; CAN THE AMERICAN POLITICAL PROCESS SURVIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM?

The good;

When the U.S. Senate returns later this month from spring recess, we will have a second chance effort to pass meaningful comprehensive immigration reform. The Senator of Pennsylvania, Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter-R, has promised to hold new hearings and report out a revised bill by May 4. The Hagel-Martinez "compromise" bill, which failed to pass the Senate earlier this month, will be front and center.

It was also reported that Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. issued a press release stating their intention "to produce a strong border security bill that will not make unlawful presence in the United States a felony." Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida lauded the promise to eliminate a plan that was "offensive, excessive and demonized hard-working immigrants." Terrific.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist-R and President Bush, to their credit, are doing their level best to keep this bill from slipping into a highly probable catatonic state. Frist has been trying like mad to make sure Senators don't turn on each other, and the President is trying to keep his party together. A highly probable candidate for the upcoming 08' presidential campaign, Frist needs an immigration fight like he needs a hole in the head. I applaud both for making a good faith effort to push forth a bill that is proving to be more divisive then previously anticipated.

The bad;

There is talk of the Republican Party imploding because of the internal fights between pro-business, faith-based, Hispanic conservatives who are pro-immigrant on one side and the strong nationalists, anti-trade populists opposing immigration reform on the other.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are not in a position to celebrate either; Senator Harry Reid-D is under intense pressure by the labor unions to derail any sort of bill that would allow millions of temporary workers to keep wages down and job demand low. The unions are threatening to cut off future campaign funds if Reid works to support any immigration bill that includes a temporary worker component. Additionally, many Democratic Senators such as Charles Schumer-D, NY argued fiercely against any compromise bill.

And the ugly;

Party leaders on both sides are now attacking each other as antagonist towards true immigration reform in order to win the favor of the highly regarded Hispanic vote. The RNC is releasing commercials soon that will go after Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid-D, NV as thee Democrat most responsible for blocking progress on an immigration bill, and the Democratic Party has posted articles on it's website charging that the GOP is turning it's back on Hispanics. The article titled No Room at the Inn reads "We already knew Republicans like Tom Tancredo, James Sensenbrenner and Senator Jeff Sessions weren't on board with embracing the Hispanic community. But even President Bush and Senator John McCain would foreclose the possibility to earn citizenship for law-abiding Hispanics who come here to work. Now it appears the so-called Christian right is closing the doors on Hispanics, too. Even James Dobson, who heads Focus on the Family, is refusing to comment on the immigration issue."

Now we hear there are plans underway for a national mass boycott of businesses and schools by the immigrant and Hispanic Communities on May 1. "High school students have been the most active so far in organizing rallies and educating groups on the proposed changes to immigration laws. The kids have really started the whole thing here. A lot of them are concerned about their parents, some of whom might not be documented, and what that will mean for them as American citizens," Said Roberto Flores of the Beaumont chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

Hispanic kids boycotting school? Good Lord, it's getting real bad now.

Having learned nothing from the Civil rights struggle of the past, we are shockingly, and with our eyes wide open, moving towards a storm of political discord that will test our nation's political system once again, a regrettable storm that will result in an old fashioned drag-down, bare-knuckles donnybrook over who has the last word. At the end, there may be nobody left standing.

The good news:

We can do something about it now. We must call out to our federal leaders to avoid the attacks and not base their positions on emotions, polls or the current politics of immigration. We must call on them to consider all legitimate national interests and not forget the human aspect to this important bill. That they seek to strike a balance between national security and a practical system that allows for willing workers to be hired by willing employers.

And yes, part of the solution includes a respect for the rule of law by the immigrant community. But this can only be made possible by creating a practical system that allows foreign workers to come here and fill the jobs the economy needs filled - a legal avenue is always the preferred method. It is a sad irony that in an economy that is moving towards globalization and free trade, the current U.S. law restricts movement of people.

The truth is, a failed attempt at comprehensive immigration reform will fail us all. It is widely acknowledged that our present system is broken, and so we must come together because our self-interest in passing an immigration law is so clear: the United States benefits tremendously economically and culturally from immigration, always has always will.

President Abraham Lincoln held the Nation together during its worst period. And although this struggle does not equal the divide caused by the Civil War, it needs a leader nonetheless to rise up and champion this cause and coalesce the variant voices desirous of honest to goodness reform.

Daniel Garza is President Hispanic, Hispanic Trends & PODER magazines