Immigration roils Dems

House Democratic leaders are being whipsawed on immigration policy by two groups within their caucus — Hispanic lawmakers who want an end to Democratic support of enforcement-only immigration bills and vulnerable Democrats from swing districts who say a “get tough” approach is necessary to keep their seats in 2008.

Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Chairman Joe Baca (D-Calif.) plans to address the Democratic Caucus at next week’s meeting to reassure colleagues that they can be tough while creating a path to citizenship for undocumented and illegal immigrants.

{mosads}He also planned to meet with conservative Blue Dog Democrats on Wednesday to discuss immigration policy with them.

The special election that brought Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.) to Congress was tighter than expected because immigration was a pointed issue. And in Ohio’s 5th congressional district, both the GOP and Democratic candidate have taken similar enforcement-only approaches.

Worried about appearing soft on the issue in an election year, yet knowing they cannot afford to alienate Hispanic voters, Democratic leaders have let conservative members join legislative forces with Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) and allowed passage of a non-binding motion prohibiting the government from suing groups that require employees to speak English at work.

As a result, Baca and a group of Hispanic Democrats threatened revolt on two procedural votes last month to protest leadership handling of immigration. Now Baca is trying conciliation, reaching out to House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) and centrist Democrats.

But détente over immigration cannot avoid emotional and political pitfalls. Emanuel invited Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg to the caucus meeting to discuss his polling on immigration.

Some Democratic strategists ridiculed this idea because of Hispanic lawmakers’ skepticism about Greenberg’s record on immigration.

In The New Republic last month, Greenberg equated the immigration issue with welfare reform, saying Democrats had to get tough on enforcement before creating a path to citizenship. Many political strategists disagree.

“The real question is what are we going to do to fix the problem,” Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network (NDN), said. “Voters are looking for a solution, not more politics. The anger around immigration is as much about the issue as Washington’s inability to fix it.

“Immigration has not been terribly controversial. [The Senate comprehensive immigration reform bill] is an oasis of bipartisanship rather than a third rail.”

Greenberg did not respond to requests for comment.

Some Democratic operatives have not forgiven him for his role polling for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) during his 2004 presidential campaign. Greenberg predicted in July 2004 that Bush would win just 31 percent of the Hispanic vote. As a result of that polling, Kerry’s senior aides cut a $750,000 Spanish-language advertising buy, former campaign aides said.

Exit polls showed that Bush had won 44 percent of Hispanic votes, a 10 percent jump from 2000. Later analyses showed that Bush had won 40 percent of the Hispanic vote.

The president’s Hispanic support withered after Republicans supported legislation that called for the deportation of 12 million illegal and undocumented immigrants. Democrats overwhelmingly won the Hispanic vote in 2006 and the party wants to solidify that support next year.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who spoke at an NDN forum on immigration on Wednesday, said that unlike Republicans, Democrats avoid references in debate to “those people.” He added, “It shocked me to hear that on the Senate floor … If we show our understanding on those issues, we’ll have a unique chance at a record Latino vote and a Democratic president [in 2008].”

At Tuesday’s luncheon for Democratic senators, Menendez said they reviewed a series of polls showing that immigration ranked fifth in a list of issues important to voters.

“I hope Democrats are not going to cower to that 7 percent,” he said.

Janet Murguía, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza said, “Any effort to triangulate their way to an enforcement-only bill won’t be successful when talking to the [country’s] fastest-growing voting bloc.”

Embracing an enforcement-first approach to immigration reform is a “short-sighted investment,” Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said, adding that granting more H-2B visas to scholars and computer programmers, as some Democrats have proposed, does not amount to immigration reform.

Democrats need not be vexed by trying to balance swing voters, who might oppose citizenship for illegal immigrants, and Hispanic voters, said Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum.

Democrats should not accept the GOP’s terms of debate and ought to advocate adopting an “enforcement plus” approach, which is supported by more than 60 percent of voters, he said, adding, “Immigration will become a wedge issue for Democrats in two or three elections.”

Immigration has roiled the Republican presidential primary race, but immigration hard-liners, such as Tancredo, lag far behind those, such as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), who have taken a centrist approach.

GOP candidates will participate in a Spanish-language debate hosted by Univision in Miami on Sunday. An earlier debate was postponed because too few candidates agreed to participate.