America's Immigrant About-Face

Newly restrictive measures push other bills off agenda

By Mae M. Cheng | STAFF WRITER

September 20, 2001

In the hours it took for terrorists to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the focus of the nation's immigration debate shifted from a monthslong discussion on how to welcome newcomers to the country to a hurried patchwork of measures aimed at strengthening the U.S. borders.

"There's only one priority on the agenda right now: counterterrorism measures of all kinds," Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House immigration subcommittee, told Newsday yesterday. "Everything else is secondary and may or may not be on the agenda."

Before the attacks, the big immigration issues being debated related to a guest worker program for undocumented Mexican immigrants in the United States and possibly even a legalization program for the millions of illegals. The other major discussion centered on restructuring the heavily criticized Immigration and Naturalization Service.

While the reorganization plan will still move forward, discussions about the guest worker and legalization programs have certainly lost their momentum for the time being, Washington officials said.

"The idea of handing out green cards to illegal aliens becomes less palatable now," said Steven Camarota, the research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based group in favor of more restrictive immigration policies.

Officials believe the discussion on guest workers will rise again, but they say it's difficult to predict when. Much of it will depend on how strong public outrage is over the attacks.

"My hope is that the feeling of anti-immigrant sentiment will be more like a summer thunderstorm that comes and goes suddenly," said Josh Bernstein, policy analyst at the National Immigration Law Center in Washington.

The economic impact of the attacks will certainly play a role. The last time legislation reflected anti-immigrant sentiment was in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when response to an unhealthy economy led to passage of restrictive immigration bills in 1996.

The economy is "likely to have more of an impact on the trajectory of the immigration debate than this," Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, a Washington-based immigrant advocacy group, said of the attacks.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration is intent on pushing for a revamping of the INS, officials said. The agency's new commissioner had submitted his reorganization plan to the Justice Department just days before the World Trade Center and Pentagon were hit. INS field managers had been scheduled to meet with the commissioner last Thursday to discuss the plan. That meeting has been postponed indefinitely.

"The attacks put everything on the back burner for a few days," said Joe Karpinski, INS spokesman.

While some immigration legislation is now on hold, other bills relating to security should find a better climate. A new anti-terrorist bill includes a proposal allowing the indefinite detention and deportation of noncitizens thought to have ties to terrorist organizations. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate immigration subcommittee, also is introducing a bill to provide the INS and State Department with immediate access to the FBI database.

In addition, Smith said he would consider future legislation dealing with instituting fraud-proof immigration documents, establishing an entry/exit monitoring system, requiring immigration officials to conduct better background checks on those wanting to come to the United States, and establishing better border security.

"The emphasis will be on more security, not on free passes," Smith said.