What makes immigration deals so hard
| Washington
Rabbis protesting on Capitol Hill. A president facing accusations of racism. And lawmakers from both parties risking a government shutdown amid calls from their base to refuse the other side鈥檚 demands.
This is the state of the nation鈥檚 capital as Congress stares down a deadline to approve funding for government operations.聽
The issue at the heart of the chaos: immigration. Specifically, a deal that offers a reprieve for the 700,000 unauthorized immigrants brought to the country as children and temporarily protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. The program is set to expire in March.
Democrats looking to their base find themselves to reject a spending bill 鈥� even a short-term one 鈥撀爐hat does not include a fix for DACA. Republicans, who hold majorities in both the House and the Senate, are split over whether or not to provide so-called Dreamers some protections in exchange for reforms, like tighter border security measures, that their constituents have long called for. In the middle are legislators seeking for a compromise.聽聽
The standoff highlights Congress鈥檚 chronic inability to pass bipartisan legislation on immigration. Efforts during both the George W. Bush and the Barack Obama eras came close, as lawmakers on either side of the aisle recognized the need to reform the system.
But none passed. And the reasons why 鈥� growing partisanship among voters, eroding trust within Congress itself, and immigration鈥檚 continuing role as one of American society鈥檚 great contradictions 鈥� are as complicated as the issue itself.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like an American Rorschach test, that people read into this issue all sorts of economic, cultural, social, religious, and foreign policy perspectives,鈥� says Daniel Tichenor, director of the University of Oregon鈥檚 program on democratic engagement and governance.
鈥淭here鈥檚 broad agreement that the system is broken right now, that we need some kind of deal to address these problems. But,鈥� he notes, 鈥渨e鈥檝e been going a quarter-century without a serious immigration response.鈥�
A nation of immigrants
Immigrants have always occupied a unique place in American history. Nearly every American, save perhaps the 2 percent who trace their lineage back to Native peoples, has an immigrant story in the family record. Because of that, Professor Tichenor says, 鈥淲e see immigration itself as virtuous.鈥�
Humans, however, have a natural suspicion of the unfamiliar. 鈥淣ew immigrants have always been seen as somehow harmful, while 鈥榦ur鈥� forefathers, 鈥榦ur鈥� immigrants, are somehow better,鈥� says Theresa Brown, director of immigration and cross-border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington.
That tension has ebbed and flowed depending on things like economic security and social and cultural norms. Do people feel their financial prospects are stable? To what degree is society rejecting racism and xenophobia? The answers, Ms. Brown says, often color public opinion 鈥� and political will.
鈥淚mmigrants tend to be a scapegoat for fears that people have,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat drives the politics.鈥�
Indeed, the last significant bipartisan deal on illegal immigration to make it through Congress required lawmakers who were willing to defy public opinion and cut across divisions between and within parties. The Immigration Reform and Control Act, which former President Ronald Reagan signed into law in 1986, awarded green cards to about 2.7 million unauthorized immigrants at a time when nearly half of Americans , and about 40 percent wanted to keep it at current levels.
That a large share of Republicans would go on to view the IRCA as a blot on Mr. Reagan鈥檚 conservative legacy 鈥� deriding it as聽鈥渁mnesty鈥� that did nothing to stem illegal immigration聽鈥撀燿oesn鈥檛 diminish the herculean effort that the legislators behind the law put into its crafting and passage. The New York Times reported that Rep. Romano Mazzoli (D) of Kentucky faced down 聽鈥� and lost 12 pounds 鈥� during the years he spent working on the law with Sen. Alan Simpson (R) of Wyoming.
鈥淚 used to be 6 foot 7 until they kept pounding me down. Then I became 5 foot 9,鈥� Representative Mazzoli quipped to the Times. 鈥淏ut I wanted to prove to the country and to the leadership that we could deal with an emotionally laden and divisive subject in a way that brought credit to the House.鈥�
A series of attempts 鈥� and failures
The idea of legislators quietly chipping away toward compromise on a tough issue seems almost fanciful in today鈥檚 era of feverishly partisan politics. Divisions on a range of issues 鈥� not least immigration 鈥� between Democrats and Republicans reached during the Obama years, according to the Pew Research Center. , and is reflected in the representatives the public elects and how they deal with matters on the Hill, political observers say.
鈥淲e elect the reddest of the red and the bluest of the blue and we send them to D.C. and expect them to talk to each other,鈥� says Lisa Maatz, a policy operative who has worked in Washington for two decades. 鈥淚f any compromise puts you at risk of being primaried, then where鈥檚 the incentive to do the work?鈥�
For immigration in particular, the result has been 鈥� and failures 鈥� at sweeping reform.
In 2005, Sens. Edward Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts and John McCain (R) of Arizona introduced a bipartisan comprehensive reform bill that petered out when it couldn鈥檛 be reconciled with an enforcement-only version in the House. Another bid, in 2007, created a path to legal status and a new temporary worker program in exchange for tighter border measures. The effort died in the Senate in the face of from the far right.聽聽
The last major attempt at immigration reform took place in 2013, when the Senate鈥檚 bipartisan 鈥淕ang of Eight鈥� that would have shored up border security and revamped the legal immigration system while crafting a path to citizenship for the nation鈥檚 11 million unauthorized immigrants. The bill never made it to a vote in the House.
So many failed negotiations threaten to turn immigration into a political no-go zone and make real reform 鈥� already a tough ask 鈥� increasingly difficult to achieve, says Sarah Binder, professor of politics at George Washington University and senior fellow in governance at the Brookings Institution.
鈥淭hese deals that require you to understand what the other side wants become harder the less and less you trust the other side,鈥� she says.
A narrow deal
DACA was supposed to be an answer. Instead of attempting to overhaul the whole system, lawmakers thought they could strike a narrow deal that provided both legal status for Dreamers 鈥� a sympathetic population even to many conservatives 鈥� and funding for border security measures (i.e., President Trump鈥檚 wall). A compromise on this single front could have served to restore public confidence in Congress鈥檚 ability to legislate and pave the way for future talks on broader immigration reform, political analysts say.
But the more extreme forces that have stalled past negotiations not only remain at play; they鈥檙e more influential than ever.
鈥淭he base of each party cares intently about different aspects of the deal, keeping them from solving the problem,鈥� Professor Binder says.
Compounding the situation is an unpredictable president who swings, by the day, from expressing support for bipartisan efforts to standing solidly with the conservative base that elected him, critics say. Alleged comments that Trump made last week about immigrants have also led to public accusations of racism, casting a further pall over the negotiations.
鈥淵ou can either have a president who sets a moral tone, who sets restraints around what members of Congress can say or do, or you can have a president who unleashes this kind of hostility,鈥� says Norm Ornstein, a political scientist at the American Enterprise Institute.
Congress remains gridlocked on the issue, even as Friday鈥檚 deadline to send the president a spending bill looms. Still, some are holding out for a happier ending. Addressing reporters on Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina said that Congress already knows what it needs to do: protect Dreamers and secure the border.
鈥淪o it鈥檚 not going to end poorly 鈥� it's going to end well,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he public is demanding for us to get our act together up here.鈥�
鈥淲hen [Congress] decides that what needs to get done is more important than scoring points or the politics of the day, they can come together,鈥� Brown adds. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 going to require leadership.鈥�
