Should Republicans do the Democrats' bidding? 

By Nicholas Sanchez
web posted August 20, 2001

For our Spanish-speaking president, George W. Bush, Mexico
has occupied a great deal of his attention over his lengthy
summer vacation. He has leveled the serious charge of
"discrimination" at Members of Congress who want to increase
the safety requirements for Mexican trucks wishing to pass
through the United States. And he has also managed to jolt both
Democrats and Republicans alike with a plan that would allow
nearly 2 million illegal aliens from Mexico to become permanent
residents of the U.S.

The leaders of the Democrat Party -- who generally like to think
of themselves as the sole protectors of oppressed and down-
trodden groups, like immigrants -- were not expecting such a
measure to be proposed by this White House. In fact, House
Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, quickly scrambled to come up
with a plan of his own.

The Republicans, on the other hand, who often look ill-at-ease in
courting minority constituencies, were also taken aback by this
plan. Traditionally, the GOP has been the political party that has
been willing to embrace the concept that in coming to this
country, people should generally have to follow all the rules and
requirements to: a) enter our borders; and b) become naturalized
citizens. Only then would they be deserving of the full rights of
citizenship. Of course, this "harsh" position has put the
Republican Party at odds with left-wing Hispanic groups, like La
Raza.

The GOP's principled stand on this issue has come at the cost of
its being able to obtain majority support from Hispanic voters,
who often have family members in nearby Mexico trying to get
into the U.S. To counteract this, several Republican consultants
have been whispering into the ears of party leaders that they
should blindly push social issues to Hispanic voters, with the
hope that this will bring them into their fold.

Their specious thinking follows the line that because most
Hispanics are Catholic, they then must be tied to their bishop's
thinking on questions such as abortion. Of course, poll after poll
shows that most Catholics --and Hispanics are not exempt from
this rule -- do not particularly pay much attention to what their
bishops have to say on such matters nowadays. Although from
my perspective as a Greek Catholic this situation is lamentable, it
is nonetheless a fact.

My own guess is that Mr. Bush and his advisors also realize this.
So instead, they have opted for another strategy to reach out to
Hispanics. Unfortunately, I believe that their new strategy is just
as misguided as their previous efforts

The Administration's plan is to allow nearly two million Mexicans
to stay in the country under a guest-worker program. Under
these rules, illegal aliens who qualify could stay and work in the
country while, presumably, applying to become naturalized
citizens. Once they have been granted legal status, they would
then have the right to petition the government for more of their
relatives to come to the U.S.

For immigration enthusiasts, this plan sounds great. For those
who believe in the rule of law, there is something fundamentally
wrong with the federal government providing such an easy-out to
people who broke the law in order to get into this country.

That argument aside, politically, this is a no-win for Bush in that
by doing this he will basically be rushing in future Democratic
voters. Should any rational person believe that by making this
dramatic gesture Bush and the Republican Party would win chits
with Hispanics and Hispanic groups? The answer of course is a
resounding "no!" Republicans are not going to be there to greet
these Hispanics at the local level. They will be met by Democrat
politicians and bureaucrats who will push them into their political
tent faster than you can say "ariba!"

It is admirable that our president is interested in reaching out to a
constituency that his political party has historically ignored, or, in
some places, been downright hostile to -- but that doesn't mean
he should lose his political sense in extending his hand to them. If
President Bush really wants to gain the attention of Hispanic
voters, then he should spend less time worrying about the
Mexican economy and more time worrying about our own
economic development.

Nicholas Sanchez is the Free Congress Foundation's Director of
Development.

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