Immigration deal is near, says Specter

The Senate’s bipartisan immigration talks yesterday yielded the first stirrings of a “grand bargain,” but the fate of the compromise remained uncertain amid political pressure from interest groups and a potential filibuster.

Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), the Judiciary Committee’s ranking Republican and leader of recent negotiations on immigration reform, took the floor to announce the progress and ask Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for more time before the next week’s floor deadline.

{mosads}“We have come to an agreement on what we have called a ‘grand bargain,’ which is the outline of an immigration bill,” Specter said.

Sanctions for employers who hire illegal immigrants, thousands of new Border Patrol agents and a trigger mechanism to tackle border security are all under consideration, Specter said. But he warned that Reid’s plans to call up last year’s
Senate-passed immigration bill — which has lost significant support — as a placeholder could bring the process to a halt.

“[There is a GOP] disinclination to support a motion to proceed” to last year’s bill, Specter said, “raising the possibility that there may be a filibuster there.”

Lawmakers from both ends of the ideological spectrum believe time is growing short for an immigration bill that can pass both houses before presidential politics take hold. The spring’s marathon talks have joined as many as a dozen senators with two Cabinet members representing the White House, but few negotiators were openly optimistic until yesterday.

Reid’s plans remained firm, launching tomorrow with a so-called “Rule 14” filing on either last year’s committee-passed or
Senate-passed immigration bill. He urged Specter’s group to offer language as a substitute or in several amendments to that placeholder measure.

“Senators have known for two months” that immigration would come up next week, Reid told reporters yesterday. “Anyone who thinks two months is not enough time to get ready should get another occupation.”

Senate GOP Conference Chairman Jon Kyl (Ariz.), an opponent of last year’s bill turned White House ally in the negotiations, tamped down talk of a filibuster on the motion to proceed to placeholder legislation — provided that it would be only a stand-in for a complete agreement that has yet to emerge.

“The question is, what if there isn’t a bipartisan consensus [by next week]? … If it can’t be done, my preference would be [to] keep the process alive,” Kyl said.

Meanwhile, a coalition of labor and advocacy groups supporting a path to citizenship for the country’s 11 million immigrants kicked off a $250,000 campaign pushing Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) to back a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally.

The Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CCIR) is running print advertisements and radio spots in Martinez’s home state. The ads press the Republican National Committee (RNC) general chairman, a Cuban-American immigrant himself, to move the Senate away from a White House-floated proposal that immigrant-rights groups consider draconian.

“What we’re asking him to do is bring the debate to the center,” the CCIR campaign manager, Clarissa Martinez, said. “I think they’re putting the process in reverse with the negotiations going on today.”

Martinez was dismayed by the ad rollout, which comes not long after a cadre of RNC members attempted to block him from the party’s helm for what they considered his too-soft stance on immigration.

Considering the criticism from both sides of the immigration debate, Martinez said, “I must be doing something right where the sweet spot is.” Yet he acknowledged that the ads have “caused a lot of consternation” among Republicans who fear that political pressure will torpedo the consensus.

“Obviously, if one side or another decides they want this thing to fail before the ’08 elections, we’re not going to get very far,” Martinez said.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), another White House ally in the negotiating process, called the Martinez ads “exceedingly bad form.”

“This is bad news, because what it demonstrates is that some of the liberal groups don’t feel like they’re going to get everything they want out of a consensus bill,” Cornyn said. “So they’re trying to undermine our ability to get a bill.”

The CCIR is compiling a bipartisan list of senators to target with future home-state ads, focusing on border states such as Texas and California, where Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) has indicated she no longer would back last year’s bill.

Another swipe at the Senate’s compromise came from across the Capitol, where several border-first House Republicans, along with Democratic freshman Rep. Heath Shuler (N.C.), released a terse letter to their counterparts in the upper chamber.

“”It’s important that the Senate know that now there is strong opposition in the House of Representatives. It’s bipartisan opposition to amnesty,” Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) told reporters.

Jackie Kucinich contributed to this article.