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GOP aims to force immigration debate

By Stephen Dinan
March 11, 2008

House Republican leaders will introduce a petition drive today to force Democrats to debate immigration this year, using a Democrat-sponsored bill to box them into taking a stand on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Republican leaders reached the decision yesterday evening to initiate a "discharge petition," a parliamentary move minority parties can use to force issues onto the House floor over objections of the majority. The last successful use was on campaign finance in 2002.

But Republicans' move also puts Sen. John McCain, their party's presumed presidential nominee, in a tough spot. He has consistently opposed enhanced security efforts that weren't also tied to granting citizenship rights to illegal immigrants, and the effort could highlight a deep rift among Republicans.

Republicans are using a bill sponsored by a conservative Democrat, Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina, to try to force the issue. The bill would boost the number of U.S. Border Patrol agents and require businesses to check employees' Social Security numbers against a federal database, known as E-Verify. The system is currently voluntary.

"The Shuler discharge petition will be filed tomorrow," a House Republican leadership aide said after the leaders met yesterday. Another aide said the petition will be sponsored by an unspecified Republican in a swing district, to provide a November boost.

Republicans must collect 218 signatures, or a majority of House members, to force the bill onto the floor over the objection of Democratic leaders.

Mr. McCain said he "gets it" that voters want security enhanced before they will accept his plan for a legalization program that would grant citizenship rights to millions of illegal immigrants. But he has yet to take a stand on any specific proposals, and his campaign has gone silent on the immigration issue in recent weeks. He also voted in the 1990s against creating the Basic Pilot Program, the system that has morphed into E-Verify.

A campaign spokesman didn't return repeated messages left over the past five days regarding the discharge petition. But a spokeswoman for House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican, said the move is not a surprise to Mr. McCain.

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