Despite Bush’s Promises, Georgians Remain Skeptical About Immigration Bill New York Times
June 19, 2007
By ROBERT PEAR

MARIETTA, Ga., June 18 — If President Bush thought he could win support for a comprehensive immigration bill by promising to secure the border and step up law enforcement, he would be dismayed by the reaction here.

“It’s all window dressing,” said Mark A. Johnson, a real estate lawyer in this fast-growing suburb of Atlanta. “We don’t believe the government has the will to enforce any of these promises. Everybody can see the folly of it, everybody but the politicians.”

Georgia’s two Republican senators would almost certainly be on the list of politicians arousing Mr. Johnson’s skepticism. The two, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, were part of the small bipartisan group that wrote the original bill. But they have been edging away from it since being strongly criticized in the state.

The storm raging around the bill shows no sign of abating despite reassuring presidential words about strengthening border security.

Reagan W. Dean, a Georgia state employee, said: “Maybe it is possible to secure the border. Maybe it is possible to establish an employee identification system. But I don’t have any confidence that it will be done.”

“It really upsets me to find out that my government says, ‘Yes, we can secure the border, we can detain illegal aliens, we can take all sorts of actions to enforce the law, but we will do so only if Congress provides legal status to those who are here illegally,’ ” Mr. Dean said.

The provision of the bill that appeals most to Hispanic groups and many Democrats — a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants — generates the most opposition from conservatives. After the measure stalled in the Senate on June 7, President Bush and sponsors of the bill pledged to strengthen its security provisions in an effort to defuse opposition to the legalization program. The legislation, Mr. Bush’s top domestic priority, is expected to return to the Senate floor late this week.

If a sampling of Georgia opinion is any evidence, the bill’s path has not gotten much smoother.

Louis S. Hunter, a pollster and political analyst based in Atlanta, said, “Congress and the president are completely out of touch with how people here feel about illegal immigration.”

Senator Chambliss, who is up for re-election next year, was booed last month when he defended the bill at the state Republican convention. In nearby Gwinnett County, the local Republican Party adopted a resolution last week urging both senators to “vote no on this amnesty bill.”

Jane V. Kidd, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, said: “This is not a partisan issue in Georgia. A small percentage of Democrats are supporting the bill as it stands, but a majority of Democrats and Republicans in the state do not like it.”

Three Democrats who hope to unseat Mr. Chambliss have criticized the bill and his role in drafting it, Ms. Kidd said.

Joan Kirchner, a spokesman for Mr. Isakson, said he had “heard the message loud and clear.” The senator believes that border security and law enforcement “should be decoupled” from proposals to legitimize the status of illegal immigrants and establish a guest-worker program, Ms. Kirchner said.

Douglas C. Dromey, a land broker in Kennesaw, Ga., said, “I have written off both parties on this issue.”… please read the entire article it is well worth the short free registration. I did.