Sen. Majority Leader Comment Marks Monumental Shift in Immigration Reform Prospects

In an interview published in Gannet News Service over the weekend, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke candidly of plans to both address and pass immigration reform legislation in the 111^th Congress.

Reid told Gannett News,

"On immigration, there's been an agreement between (President-elect Barack) Obama and (Arizona Republican Sen. John) McCain to move forward on that. ... We'll do that."  

The Senate Majority Leader went on say that he did not expect "much of a fight at all,"  and expressed his optimism about passing common sense immigration reform in the near future. 

Why is Reid so confident?

It may have something to do with the failure of anti-immigrant politics at the ballot-box, the growing power of the Latino and immigrant vote, or the realization that Americans are looking to those they elected to tackle and solve the toughest issues of our day.

What's more, in this new landscape, Senator Reid's comments join a distinctly bipartisan chorus. Chiming in are many Republican strategists and leaders speaking out against the GOP's restrictionist, enforcement-only approach to immigration. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) recently said on NBC's Meet the Press:

"There were voices within our party that if they continue with that kind of anti-Hispanic rhetoric, we're going to be relegated to minority status."

In Newsweek, Karl Rove argued that, in order for the GOP to stay afloat, Republicans must truly support policy that "strengthens citizenship, grows our economy and keeps America a welcoming nation."

Given this new political reality, all signs point to a monumental shift in how immigration reform may be taken up and tackled in the 111^th Congress.

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Comments

[geaaronson]

01:49 PM on 11/25/2008

The problems are multidimensional. To begin with the feds now allow only 85,000 trained professional aliens a year into the country. Although this is a marked increase of 20,000 over the past few years, it is still short of the 125,000 number that Silicon Valley and its cohorts in the tech fields feel are necessary.
Second, the federal government must finally come to the realization that there are about 10 million jobs out there that American citizens are not interested in filling that are being filled by illegal aliens. We need to increase the quotas significantly to allow unskilled labor into the country from Mexico and Central America. . . We need to make identifications on the basis of fingerprinting and face scans and not insist on green card application at American consulates and embassies but at the border itself. Let the governments in question arrange for their own picture identifications by exit immigration offices south of the border, subject to approval by US immigration. The cost of the American paperwork would be ameliorated by any criminal transgressions of the aliens, subject to the expense to their host countries. If it costs 35,000 a year to house a Mexican in a US cellblock, then we penalize Mexico for part of the expenses.
Third. Instead of sending illegals back into the US, send them to prison for a month for their illegal attempt at entry.

[luke150]

01:29 PM on 11/25/2008

So the Republicans are done with the xenophobia? Please let Sarah Palin up in Alaska know about it.

[youngblood360]

12:25 PM on 11/25/2008

The immigration issue must be resolved and quickly! We must come to terms with a global economy and global immigration. We must resolve to get this legislation passed in a timely manner for the good of the country and the rest of the planet. It is not only Hispanics that immigrate to the U.S.! I have personal experience with a loved one who is in the process of getting his green card. With Bush in office it has been a nightmare. We are quite hopeful that a substantial immigration bill will now be passed and my loved one as well as many others will be able to be moved through the process much more efficiently.

[avocats]

09:56 AM on 11/25/2008

It puzzles me why the "Hispanic vote" is seen as unified and completely supportive of illegal immigration. Every illegal immigrant who enters the country represents more challenges for the citizens and legal residents already here and struggling, which includes, disproportionately, Hispanics. I see the Democrats and Republicans agreeing on "immigration reform" (amnesty for 20 million), but only because the Democrats want more votes and the Republicans want more cheap (below-market) labor. This is a repeat of the abysmally-failed 1986 Kennedy "last and final" amnesty. (BTW, anti-illegal immigration positions have not lost at the ballot box. Look at Arizona and California.) The key is that they are anti-ILLEGAL immigration, a distinction that open borders advocates must obfuscate to continue railing at straw-man "xenophobes."

[Nilesbutbetter]

11:33 PM on 11/24/2008

If Republicans are smart, they will reign in their xenophobic members and work to pass a reasonable bill so they don't lose the Latino vote for the next 50 years. It's about time we start doing the right thing for the country instead of scapegoating immigrants. Part of me is disappointed, I would sleep better knowing land every election from now on was in the bag for Democrats for the next 50 years. Oh well, at least the GOP is looking like they're learning.

[kerthialfad]

08:12 PM on 11/28/2008

There needs to be an awareness that US population growth is much too high. Consider, the US is the 3rd most populous nation on the planet, after China and India. She has a rate of population growth which is in the top 10. Under principals of comprehensive immigration reform, immigration policy must be tied to population growth projections and well as the national interest. Consider, we don't import people to improve their lives, make them rich, or make them happy. We import people to fill a national need.

Oh - another statistic. US immigration rates are the highest in the world - by far.

[kerthialfad]

09:47 AM on 11/29/2008

I've never been able to understand this word "xenophobic". Are these people who are afraid of the "warrior-princess" or something? Better to describe the behavior in question, rather than resort to namecalling. It's like saying "you a***ole!". It indicates capitulation. it indicates, you have nothing further to add to the debate, so you're going to resort to crass namecalling.