BEL AIR, Md. – Immigration advocates are swarming the country this month, trying to persuade House Republicans to pass a comprehensive overhaul. It was hard to tell at the town-hall meeting that second-term Republican Rep. Andy Harris held recently in this town northeast of Baltimore.
The overflow crowd in the board of commissioners meeting room was overwhelmingly white and older, and booed loudly when one audience member asked Harris to support a path to citizenship for immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.
Loud applause followed as Harris shot the idea down, calling it “a nonstarter” that’s “not going anywhere fast” in the House.
“The bottom line is there are plenty of immigration laws on the books,” Harris said. “The House is in no rush to take up immigration.”
Harris, a 56-year-old physician and the son of Eastern European immigrants, is in a safe GOP district with few Latino voters, and he’s not on target lists drawn up by immigration proponents. So it’s no surprise that advocates wouldn’t be out in force at his events.
Yet his position is far from unique.
For all the effort that business and labor groups, activists and others who support action on immigration say they’re pouring into making themselves heard during Congress’ five-week summer recess, there are scores of House Republicans who are hearing very little of the clamor.
These lawmakers are insulated in safe districts where immigration activists don’t bother to venture, or so hardened in their positions that no one’s even trying to change their minds.
“Most of the energy is being spent on the folks who are gettable,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, a pro-immigrant group. “We’re not spending a lot of time on Republicans who are clearly going to vote ‘no.”’
With immigration legislation stuck in limbo in the GOP-led House, that reality raises the question of how successful advocates can be in reaching their goal for this month: generating enough momentum to propel Congress to act when lawmakers return to Washington in September.
A week into lawmakers’ summer recess, advocates are trumpeting comments from a few Republicans, including Daniel Webster of Florida, Aaron Schock of Illinois and Dave Reichert of Washington, indicating qualified support for eventual citizenship for those in the country illegally.
It’s unclear whether such developments are limited to a small number of lawmakers, including some in districts with changing demographics or a more moderate electorate, or whether they become widespread enough to compel House Republicans to act on a far-reaching package of immigration bills that could be merged with a Senate-passed measure and sent to President Barack Obama.
