Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

EDITORIAL: Illegal marches: Immigration issue heats up
Editorial Board
The Lantern (Ohio State U.)
03/27/2006

(U-WIRE) COLUMBUS, Ohio — In the midst of an almost impossible balancing act, the leader of the Republican Party, President George W. Bush, is facing the tough prospect of answering the increasing call for tougher immigration laws and enforcement without alienating a growing demographic in the Republican Party - Latinos.

The issue also brings into play four key states near, or along the U.S. border with 29 combined electoral votes — Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico — all won by Bush in 2004 by less than a 5-percent margin, and is already presenting a dim and rocky road for Republican congressional candidates in the upcoming midterm elections.

Since day one of his presidency, Bush has been solidly set in two immigration policies: Enforcing existing immigration laws, and creating a guest-worker program. But in a recent Wall Street Journal poll, 71 percent of those polled said they would vote for a candidate who supported tighter borders and tougher immigration laws, and 59 percent said they oppose Bush's plan. The majority consensus about immigration, and the emotion surrounding it, has transformed a post-Sept. 11 concern into a nationwide debate.

Nearly 12 million illegal immigrants reside in the U.S., and 99 percent came to this country for work. Whether they take jobs that Americans will not do, or are an invaluable asset to the country's economy, most naturalized citizens are voicing that more should be done to fight illegal immigration. Some suggestions, however, are drawing more criticism than others.

Building a fence is not a viable solution. Those who come to the U.S. illegally have shown that they will stop at nothing, even risking their own lives, to enter this country. Increasing the penalties for businesses and individuals who participate in illegal immigration is also not a viable solution, and would create an unenforceable black market for illegal labor.

Republicans, as a result, are split in a number of different directions. What will more than likely creep up to be the sleeper issue of the congressional and presidential elections, immigration is throwing the Republican Party into disarray, and garbled and incoherent messages have yielded suggestions ranging from doing nothing to endorsing the building a fence along the entire southern U.S. border and sending every illegal immigrant back home.

During the past week, protesters around the country marched in opposition to the federal crackdown on illegal immigration. More than 500,000 marched in Los Angeles, 50,000 in Denver, 20,000 in Phoenix and more than 10,000 marched in Milwaukee.

The marches were sparked by legislation recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally. It also would impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, require churches to check the legal status of parishioners before helping them and erect fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border.

Both Democrats and Republicans have offered criticism and praise of the new bill — most responding after assessing the opinions of constituents in their districts and states. One thing seems to be certain. For the first time after Sept. 11, immigration reform is a front-page issue and this country could at last see real reform - whatever that might be.

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