Republicans offer self deportation immigration bill in house

Houston Chronicle:

Deriding the Senate immigration legislation as an unworkable amnesty program for lawbreakers, House Republican conservatives Tuesday introduced an enforcement bill that includes a guest worker program for agriculture.

The legislation by Reps. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, and Peter King, R-N.Y., most notably deviates from the Senate bill by not offering a path to eventual citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. Instead, the conservatives argue that stiffer enforcement of immigration laws, including a requirement that employers check the residency status of workers, would get illegal immigrants to leave the U.S. voluntarily.

"It would be immigration reform, in fact, just to enforce current laws," said Smith, the architect of a 1996 law that bolstered border security.

King, top Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, said, "The bottom line is we are opposed to the amnesty bill in the Senate. We strongly oppose it. We believe it would be dangerous to the country."

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Even as Smith and Texas' two senators voiced disagreement with the Senate version, a poll issued Tuesday suggested that a sizable majority of Texans favors a comprehensive overhaul that pairs increased enforcement with a path to legal status for illegal immigrants who pay fines, learn English and pay back taxes.

The Senate bill, which may be reconsidered as early as this weekend, twins enforcement with a legalization program and a temporary worker program.

The poll, commissioned by a business coalition pressuring Texas GOP Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn to support the Senate bill, found 59 percent of Texans support such a comprehensive solution and 36 percent oppose it.

Sponsored by Texas Employers for Immigration Reform, the survey was conducted by Austin-based Baselice & Associates, which has worked for several Republican campaigns.

Cornyn didn't necessarily accept the poll findings, citing polling by Rasmussen Reports that found just 23 percent of Americans support the Senate bill.

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I suspect that Rasmussen is closer to the mark. At any rate, the passion on this issue is with groups that oppose the Senate bill and senators who support it are feeling their wrath. I think the approach by Lamar Smith and Peter King is the better way to achieve control of the border. The "path to citizenship" problem is that it will encourage more illegal migration. The House approach will deter illegal migration. While supporters of the Senate bill get themselves wrapped up in a semantics argument over whether or not it is amnesty, opponents do not see the requirements in the path to citizenship as sufficient deterrent to stop future violations. For those who choose to opt for just the legalization without becoming citizens, the cost is nil. That is not a deterrent, it is an incentive.

You can bet that Democrats will still try to register the non citizens to vote for them. That is one aspect of Chuck Schumer's show trial on the US Attorney firings that has not gotten enough attention. Democrats want to undercut trials for voter fraud, because they believe the fraud benefits their chances.