BREAKING: Immigration Bill Dead for Now

by Matt Stoller, Fri Apr 07, 2006 at 12:11:04 PM EDT

I just heard that the immigration bill is dead, and will not pass at least until after recess. The Republicans could not organize themselves to pass anything.

I think MyDD might have actually broken the news about the immigration 'compromise' deal falling through. I'm not sure, because I haven't checked around, but we might have been first on this one. We're three plus hours ahead of the AP, anyway.

Anyway, Specter is trying to offer another bill this afternoon to break the impasse, but it doesn't look like it'll work. Frist, who's leadership has been atrocious on this issue in both a practical, technical, and moral sense, really got hosed on this issue. He's thinking like a Presidential candidate, siding with the Tancredo knuckle-dragging wing and then the business-interest wing and then back.

The massive marches on Monday are going to energize a lot of people, and freak a lot of others out (check out this mailer, PDF). The Senate's going on recess next week, and while back in their districts members in are going to hear a lot about immigration.

Tags: Bill Frist, immigration (all tags)

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Re: Immigration Follow-Up

This hub-bub on immigration is just silly. While I do believe the problem is more serious than the media has made it out to be in the past, it is NOT as serious as the media is portraying it NOW. This isn't a thing that caught ANYONE by surprise.

My take on the issue is simple: those who are pressing for draconian measures never vote for Democrats anyway. However, the Hispanic vote can trend a big way towards us forever perhaps. Like the civil rights act and voting rights act brought black Americans to us and Katrina stemmed a tiny movement towards the Republicans, THIS immigration hysteria will bring Hispanics back to the fold among those that drifted foolishly to Bush in 2004.

by jgarcia 2006-04-07 12:21PM | 0 recs

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Re: BREAKING: Immigration Bill Dead for Now

The Sacramento Bee semi-predicted it at about 2am, California Time. Headline: Immigration Deal Faltering In Senate

The story didn't quite get there, however.

by jsw 2006-04-07 12:42PM | 0 recs

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Re: BREAKING: Immigration Bill Dead for Now

Good riddens, it takes jobs away from working class Americans and give them to Immigrants, from construction jobs, to warehouse jobs, to telemaketing jobs, to waiters' jobs. Hope it doesn't come back. 70% of the people in this country are against it.

by mleflo2 2006-04-07 12:44PM | 0 recs

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Re: BREAKING: Immigration Bill Dead for Now

Absolutely! Furthermore, the last thing we need to do is increase the supply of the working class labor pool, when the unemployment rate among working class natives between the ages of 18 - 64 is 10 percent!

by fafnir 2006-04-07 02:05PM | 0 recs

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Re: BREAKING: Immigration Bill Dead for Now

Reading the right wing talking points? You are absolutley incorrect. If you saw the latest polls,Time being one of them.http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/ 0,8599,1179117,00.html, it shows most Americans favor some sort of comprehensive bill which will guard our borders and create a path to legal status. It is a shame that the US has an entire class of 12 million people who have no status in this country, more than the population of many midwestern states. It is simply unrealistic to deport 12 million people who have established families here. We can not continue to sweep this issue under the carpet.

by NJDEM1 2006-04-07 04:46PM | 0 recs

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Re: BREAKING: Immigration Bill Dead for Now

But if you ask working class people the polls turns opposite, and get into the black community, it is even more lopsided on the oppositing immigration reform.

by mleflo2 2006-04-07 06:40PM | 0 recs

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Re: BREAKING: Immigration Bill Dead for Now

By the way since blacks are the only monolitic group that opposes immigration reform, are we republicans, 90% of us are Dems.

by mleflo2 2006-04-07 06:42PM | 0 recs

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I assumed the didn't want it to pass

Seems like keeping the status quo on immigration is what works best for the GOP. They can get their "base" all excited about the damn Mexicans- do nothing REALLY to keep them from coming and keep the people they really care about- corporate friends happy with cheap labor.

Isn't that how they do everything? Problem this time is that it might have gone a little too far. They can't really blame the Dems for the legislation failing- although I am sure they will. They also really pissed off Latinos.

by paida 2006-04-07 05:39PM | 0 recs