Bush may find an ally on immigration

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The Next Congress

Fourth of five parts

Immigration is the one major issue on which President Bush is likely to fare better next year if Democrats win control of Congress.

The issue is unfinished business to which all sides promise to return, after House Republicans this year prevented Mr. Bush from winning both a guest-worker program and citizenship rights for most illegal aliens.

Instead, House Republican leaders forced through a bill to construct 698 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. Funding for the fencing and other border security measures will be the first test of the new Congress on immigration policy.

Democrats have an outside chance of taking complete control of Capitol Hill, but a better chance of winning one chamber, and in this series, The Washington Times is examining how such a transfer of power will affect U.S. policy and politics.

Neither House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, likely to be the speaker of the House if Democrats win that chamber, nor Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, the Democrats' Senate leader, would commit this week to funding the fencing if they gain control of Congress.

"What Leader Pelosi has said in the past is that we need to do comprehensive reform, and the fence could be part of that reform," said the California Democrat's spokeswoman, Jennifer Crider.

Jim Manley, spokesman for Mr. Reid, said the Nevada Democrat is working toward "solutions that are tough and smart, not political legislation designed to make for good election-year sound bites."