Democratic Party Splinters on Immigration

"B-log"

04/22/2006

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Republicans remain divided on immigration, but Democrats also are finding that their diverse rank-and-file isn’t entirely on the same page on the emotional - and politically tricky - issue.

“Border security is our top priority. But we’re not going to do border security alone. We want comprehensive immigration reform,” Democratic national chairman Howard Dean said Friday in laying down his party’s position.

It was clear, however, that total agreement was lacking in a party that wears diversity as a badge of honor.

“There are different views. We need to get together on this,” said Maria Luna, a Democratic National Committee member from New York who was born in the Dominican Republic and became a U.S. citizen in the late 1970s. “The party really needs to respect the needs of everyone or we’ll continue to be kicked around by the Republican Party.”


The issue has roiled the country in recent weeks as lawmakers debated legislation on Capitol Hill.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., intends to seek passage of immigration legislation by Memorial Day, hoping to revive an election-year effort to tighten border security and give some of the millions of illegal immigrants in the United States a chance at citizenship.

The Republican-run House has passed a bill that is limited to border security, but leaders indicated recently they would be receptive to broader legislation.

Republicans have been pulled in different directions on the issue by business supporters, who believe foreign workers help the economy, and other conservative backers who take a hard line on illegal immigration.

Democratic splinters on the issue showed at the DNC’s spring meeting in New Orleans. Members wrote at least two symbolic resolutions on immigration.


One co-sponsored by Dean urged the Bush administration to support “comprehensive immigration reform to include a path to legalization for immigrants already in the United States.”

Dean told reporters that he supported legislation in the Senate sponsored by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz. It gives most of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants a chance at eventual citizenship if they meet certain conditions.

The DNC’s Hispanic Caucus crafted a different resolution that says all individuals in the United States - regardless of whether they are in the country illegally - should be able to seek to become a U.S. citizen.

“We believe that any immigrant - any immigrant - residing in this nation has a right - a right - to have access to the process allowing U.S. citizenship. No ifs. No buts,” Alvaro Cifuentes, the head of the caucus, told the executive committee. “And, we feel that the underlying theme is that there is nothing more un-American than to be anti-immigrant.”

Some Democrats said the party as a whole is all over the map on immigration and that Democratic leaders are treading carefully so they don’t alienate segments of their base - blacks and labor unions - or reverse the progress they have made in attracting Hispanics to the party.

But Democratic National Committee officials said the party is mostly unified when it comes to three basic principles on immigration reform - secure borders, opportunities for earned citizenship for immigrants and policies that keep families together.

The differences, they said, are in the details.

“Everybody agrees on two or three things. Beyond that, it gets difficult,” said Moses Mercado, the DNC’s director of intergovernmental affairs. “It’s the nuances.”

He and other party officials say their differences don’t run nearly as deep as those within the Republican Party. “They cannot agree on the principles,” Mercado said.

Political strategists from both parties say divisions can be explained in part by the issue being more prominent in some states than in others.

Democrats are seeking to lay out differences between them and Republicans on immigration in radio commercials running in four states. The party also plans newspaper advertisements in major cities, including Chicago, Boston, New York and Los Angeles.