The collapse of immigration legislation

Today’s NY Times contains a new analysis of the sidelining of immigration reform. The article — by Adam Nagourney, Carl Hulse and Jim Rutenberg — explains:

“Mr. Bush’s immigration measure was derailed by an overly optimistic assessment by the White House of the prospects for building a bipartisan coalition in support of the bill. It was also hurt by a fundamental misreading of the depth of hostility to the measure among House Republicans.

It was undone as well, White House and Congressional leaders acknowledged, by a sharp division over whether to focus on the short term or on the party’s long-term political prospects. Mr. Bush’s aides saw the House bill, which would make it a felony to live in this country illegally and would close off any chance to win legal status, as a threat to their attempts to broaden the party’s appeal to Hispanic voters.

House Republican leaders saw Mr. Bush’s approach — calling for tougher enforcement as well as avenues to legalize the illegal workforce and create a possible path to citizenship — as a threat to House Republicans already fearful of losing control of this fall’s elections by angering voters who viewed the plan as amnesty.”

The full story is at www.nytimes.com.

-jmc