New York Times
By Michael D. Shear and Ashley Parker
January 31, 2014
WASHINGTON — President Obama and his allies may soon confront a difficult decision: whether to abandon the creation of a new path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants and accept tough border security and enforcement measures that they have long criticized.
Those are some of the concessions that Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio signaled he would demand in exchange for a willingness to overhaul the immigration system. Mr. Boehner outlined those standards in a one-page document released on Thursday, and if they lead to legislation, Democrats and immigration advocates will be pressured to compromise.
Mr. Obama hinted in an interview broadcast on Friday that he was open to a plan that would initially give many undocumented workers a legal status short of citizenship, as long as they were not permanently barred from becoming citizens.
“If the speaker proposes something that says right away ‘folks aren’t being deported, families aren’t being separated, we’re able to attract top young students to provide the skills or start businesses here, and then there’s a regular process of citizenship’ — I’m not sure how wide the divide ends up being,” Mr. Obama said in an interview on CNN.
But White House officials reiterated that the president remained committed to his own set of principles, including a demand that there be “no uncertainty” about the ability of illegal immigrants to become American citizens. Officials noted that Mr. Boehner’s standards did not specifically call for handing enforcement of immigration laws to state and local police forces, a move, pushed by some Republicans, that Democrats oppose.
In an online town-hall-style meeting on Friday, Mr. Obama described himself as “modestly optimistic” that an immigration deal could be reached this year, but he pledged to look at all the options and said he would use his executive power if negotiations with Republican lawmakers broke down over the next several months.
The quandary for Mr. Obama is clear: He has vowed to overhaul immigration in two presidential campaigns, but to make good on the promise, he may have to agree to conditions from House Republicans that will be hard for many Democrats to accept. Mr. Boehner is facing pressure of his own to come up with a plan that will appeal to Hispanic voters.
“Just about all of the immigration advocates have said if it’s legal status with a restriction or prohibition on citizenship, then that’s a nonstarter,” said Frank Sharry, the executive director of America’s Voice, a pro-immigration group.
Eddie Carmona, the campaign manager for the Campaign for Citizenship, another advocacy group, said Mr. Boehner’s blueprint was “outrageous.” Richard L. Trumka, the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., called it “a flimsy document” and “half-measures that would create a permanent class of noncitizens without access to green cards.”
Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, said in a conference call with reporters that members of the coalition that is pushing for an immigration overhaul should be willing to consider Mr. Boehner’s approach.
“If your standard is citizenship for everyone immediately or no immigration reform at all, you are going to get no immigration reform at all,” Mr. Gutierrez said. “People are going to have to stand in the middle and leave the comfort of their caucus.”
During the online meeting, the president said he wanted to engage the Republicans. “I don’t want to prejudge and presuppose,” he said.
The question of how much Democrats will need to compromise will depend in large measure on the details of what — if anything — House Republicans pass this year. The Senate passed legislation last year after Republicans and Democrats reached a compromise on a broad overhaul, but the House has not acted on it.
The House Judiciary Committee has embraced a bill called the SAFE Act, which would empower local governments to identify and arrest people who violate federal immigration laws. The bill was modeled after laws introduced in states like Alabama and Arizona that critics say discriminate against Hispanics and violate civil liberties.
Democrats and activists were cautiously optimistic that the Republican standards, at least in their broad rendering, did not mention the SAFE Act. Including such a measure in a final immigration package would infuriate Democrats and immigration advocates.
“The SAFE Act is a poison pill,” said Mr. Sharry, the America’s Voice leader. “The idea of sacrificing the civil rights of tens of millions of Americans — because that’s what happens when you allow cops to stop people and ask for papers — is a deal-breaker.”
Mr. Boehner’s blueprint also calls for a “zero tolerance” policy for those who have crossed the border illegally or overstayed their visas. Senate conservatives demanded billions of dollars for new border security measures, and House members are likely to ask for more.
The document says that Republicans should enact measures to ensure that a president cannot “unilaterally stop immigration enforcement.” Mr. Obama and his Democratic allies are likely to object to language that could limit the power of the presidency.
Mr. Boehner’s document also emphasizes the need for “triggers” that would delay legal status for undocumented workers until border security and enforcement actions have been taken and certified. Advocates for an overhaul say such triggers are usually devised to perpetually frustrate immigrants’ hope of becoming citizens.
Despite the differences, immigration advocates expressed some optimism that they could persuade House Republicans to soften or abandon some of their approaches. A senior White House official said Mr. Obama was eager to see what the Republicans would offer.
“There was never any doubt that the gap between the president’s principles and the speaker’s principles would be pretty large,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss legislative strategy. “Everybody understands they are not going to start from the same place.”
But the official said that nothing in Mr. Boehner’s document surprised anyone in the White House. “What’s important is this debate is starting,” the official said.
Angela Kelley, an expert on immigration at the Center for American Progress, a liberal research group, said recent compromises on farm legislation and the budget encouraged her that a deal could be reached on immigration without too many compromises from either side. She said Mr. Boehner’s blueprint was a good start.
“They’re not fighting words,” Ms. Kelley said. “It feels like they’re trying to have a conversation, not a confrontation, and that’s a breath of fresh air on any issue, but especially in this town.”
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