Immig. Notes
Pres. Bush will ask those Americans twitchy and angry about unchecked illegal immigration to summon, from their compassionate souls, a reserve of common sense.
To base voters unquestionably agitated by their president's purported apostasy, Bush will counsel patience and ask them to consider holding two of their beliefs in tandem: that America cannot remain American unless it secures its borders and America will not remain American if it tries to banish the millions who are here illegally.
The president is expected to say that the government will end its "catch and release" policy of non-Mexican immigrants along the Southwest border by the end of the year.
In more than a dozen conference calls today, White House and Republican political officials are urging surrogates to remind audiences of already-in-progress efforts to shore up the border and to frame the future of the immigration debate as a balancing act between national security and economic progress.
The surrogates have been asked to dial down expectations about Nat'l guard troops; they'll be told to say that the troops will "support" existing law enforcement officials and that their deployment will not wear the forces too thin.
The WH is calling the program to allow aliens to earn a more favorable status a "temporary worker" program. Apparently, "guest" doesn't poll well.
The WH and Congressional Republican leaders hope the speech will create better conditions for Senate negotiators to conclude work on a Senate bill by the end of next week. There was plenty of will the last time the Senate tried to move a bill, but the chamber ran out of time. Maj. Leader Frist and Min. Leader Reid have agreed, this time, to two full weeks of debate. Frist will lock negotiators in a room if he has to.
FAIR, a leading anti-amnesty group, calls the troops-to-the-border plan "wool" over the "eyes" of Americans. FAIR: "The President believes through this political stunt he can sound tough on security and the American people will reverse their overwhelming disapproval of his amnesty schemes."
Thursday, Bush will travel to the border along Yuma, AZ. It will be a nice photo-op.
For passage: none of this matters, ultimately, if House Republicans don't capitulate. BTW: here's one reason why immigration politics scares the bejeebers out of the WH. [MARC AMBINDER]
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