President Bush behind the scenes for amnesty-again
From la Times in March, 2007
White House works behind the scenes for immigration reform
The administration has been meeting with key Republican senators to devise a consensus plan aimed at garnering wide GOP support.By Nicole Gaouette, Times Staff Writer
March 29, 2007
WASHINGTON — With President Bush looking to counter a legacy increasingly marred by the war in Iraq, the White House has launched a bold, behind-the-scenes drive to advance a key domestic goal: immigration reform.
For a month, White House staffers and Cabinet members have met three to four times a week with influential Republican senators and aides to hash out a consensus plan designed to draw a significant number of GOP votes.
With that effort largely completed, Republicans were hoping to present their proposal Wednesday to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who would lead the Democrats in any attempt to move a bill through the Senate.
The intense effort — conceived by the president’s chief political strategist, Karl Rove — is intended to ensure that Bush will achieve at least one crucial policy victory in the last two years of his presidency.
Success on immigration reform could also accomplish another Rove goal, shoring up the GOP’s weakened support among Latinos, who are even more important to the party as independent voters become increasingly disenchanted.
Time is short, though. Immigration is one of the few areas where the Democratic Congress sees eye to eye with the lame-duck president, but strains between the two are likely to worsen as the 2008 election nears.
Though public work on an immigration overhaul appeared to have slowed, momentum simply moved behind closed doors.
“We are working very hard on this,” Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said in an interview, calling it a “top priority.”
Kennedy has been waiting to see what the Republicans propose. Potentially fatal fault lines run through the question of citizenship for illegal immigrants and whether guest workers should be able to remain in the country and apply for legal status. So far, no one has devised a solution that will draw enough votes from both parties.
The White House has focused its energy on the Senate, which plans to move first. If the Senate can pass a bipartisan bill with strong Republican backing, it could give conservative Republicans and moderate Democrats in the House the political cover to vote for it.
The Republican strategy sessions, held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, have typically included Gutierrez, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, White House personnel, six to 10 senators and various aides. Republicans with real differences on immigration are taking part, including both Arizona senators. Jon Kyl opposes giving illegal immigrants citizenship, and John McCain favors giving legal status to illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria.
Read the rest here and imagine what is coming.