For months, [tag]Bush[/tag]’s buzzword when it came to immigration policy was “[tag]comprehensive[/tag].” During his prime-time national address on the issue, the [tag]president[/tag] said, “An immigration reform bill needs to be comprehensive, because all elements of this problem must be addressed together, or none of them will be solved at all.” A few days later, discussing the subject in Arizona, Bush said:
“I strongly believe that Congress needs to pass a comprehensive immigration bill, because you cannot secure the border unless you have all elements of a comprehensive plan in place. Doing our duty to secure the border requires a comprehensive approach…. They need to do their duty and get a bill out so we can get on about the business of getting a comprehensive bill to my desk.” (emphasis added)
Last week, some White House officials leaked word that Bush’s commitment to a “comprehensive” policy was weakening, and conservative pressure for a House-like enforcement-first policy was slowly winning the president over. This week, it sounds like the [tag]flip-flop[/tag] is nearly complete.
On the eve of nationwide [tag]hearings[/tag] that could determine the fate of his immigration bill, President Bush is signaling a new willingness to negotiate with House Republicans in an effort to revise the stalled legislation before Election Day.
Republicans both inside and outside the White House say Mr. Bush, who has long insisted on comprehensive reform, is now open to a so-called enforcement-first approach that would put new border security programs in place before creating a guest worker program or path to citizenship for people living in the United States illegally.
“He thinks that this notion that you can have triggers is something we should take a close look at, and we are,” said Candi Wolff, the White House director of legislative affairs, referring to the idea that guest worker and citizenship programs would be triggered when specific border security goals had been met, a process that could take two years.
Bush’s guest worker program? Citizenship programs? All those Republican senators who went to bat for Bush in support of an all-inclusive policy? The president’s alleged commitment to a broader approach? It sounds like Bush is suddenly prepared to give it all away.
The timing is particularly interesting.
The House hearings begin Wednesday in Laredo, Tex., and San Diego and will continue throughout the summer. In the Senate, Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, will convene his committee on Wednesday in Philadelphia.
The meetings will undoubtedly expose the deep Republican rift just as the elections draw near, and some say they are simply a way to stave off legislation until after November. [tag]Democrats[/tag], eager to pick up Congressional seats, intend to use the hearings to drive home the idea that Republicans have failed to address illegal immigration, a tactic that could further complicate prospects for a bill before [tag]Election[/tag] Day.
The president would let election-year politics dictate public policy? You don’t say….