EDITORIAL

Fan the glimmers of immigration hope

Editorial board
The Republic | azcentral.com
As the Senate-passed reform bill creeps toward its first birthday in June, the House continues to insist the omnibus approach won’t work. OK. So break it up.
Grijalva is near middle with goatee and gold lapel pin.
  • Glimmers of hope about immigration reform need to be fanned into flames
  • Republican leaders are changing the rhetoric and opening new avenues for compromise
  • Congress needs to take the impact on states into consideration as it crafts reform legislation

A report from a respected think tank moves well beyond the congressional stalemate over immigration, and talks about the impact on states after reform passes.

If only.

But what looks like a case of the pragmatists getting ahead of the process may be part of a changing political landscape. Despite all the protestations that reform is dead, there are glimmers of hope.

As the Senate-passed reform bill creeps toward its first birthday in June, the House continues to insist the omnibus approach won't work. OK. So break it up.

Utah's Rep. Mike Lee, a staunch tea party Republican, said recently that "most" House Republicans favor some sort of reform — as long as it is done piecemeal and "step-by-step."

A piecemeal approach can work. Step-by-step is problematic if it means cherry picking the popular stuff.

Legalizing the current undocumented population remains the most contentious issue. It can't be left out. A solution could coalesce around legalization that falls short of creating a special path to citizenship.

Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who delivered the GOP response to President Obama's State of the Union this year, told one of her home state newspapers: "We're going to have to push that this is legal status, not amnesty."

She said it's possible to get a House bill by August. That's a sweet spot after the primaries. It's worth pursuing.

House Speaker John Boehner's characterization of House reform opponents as crybabies raised questions about his ability to cajole the more resistant members of his caucus. He did a fast walk back on those comments, pivoting to put the blame on Obama.

But maybe he was signaling — at long last — a willingness to take a few political risks to get this done. If he works with moderate Republicans and Democrats, reform might pass the House.

Also offering a glimmer of hope is a dramatic change in the tone of the rhetoric. The relentless vilification of undocumented migrants has given way to more humane assessments.

Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake came out in defense of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's assessment that crossing the border illegally can be "an act of love" for desperate families.

Flake's statement on Facebook was particularly eloquent: "having such a prominent Republican speak so humanely and unapologetically about the motivations behind many of those who have come to reside in this country is good for all of us."

Indeed.

Last week, the Pew Charitable Trust released a report saying more states have large immigrant populations now, so reform will be felt broadly across the country. Arizona has seen large increases in the proportion of its population that is undocumented, from 2.5 percent in 1990 to 6.2 percent in 2010.

In the 1986 reform that legalized 2.7 million people, the federal government provided grants to states for legalization assistance. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 8 million people could be eligible this time. Congress needs to take the impact on states into account.

Most of all, Congress needs to pass reform. House Republicans should build on the glimmers of hope and produce a bill that moves the nation — and their party — forward.