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Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Wednesday had harsh words, but little else, for House Democratic leaders who have scheduled a series of immigration hearings to highlight various proposals.

“Several House committee members are preparing to hear immigration hearings on piecemeal legislation,” said Caucus Chairman Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., at a news conference. “These bills are nothing more than a Band-Aid being used to cover up a gaping wound.”

The hearing strategy was crafted in response to Republican-led efforts to force two smaller immigration bills to the floor: one that increases access to seasonal H-2B visas and an enforcement measure dubbed the “SAVE Act.”

“Every reporter here knows that we are going to have hearings on the ‘SAVE Act.’ Is that a surprise to anyone here?” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. “I don’t remember who pulled the trigger. I wasn’t in the room with that decision.”

Gutierrez is adamant that even limited immigration bills should address the illegal immigrant population through a broader bill. “How is it that you go about bringing enforcement-only legislation and giving it hearings at every possible level of the Democratic leadership without having also comprehensive immigration reform included?” he asked.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said the CHC’s efforts to pass a comprehensive bill have been “replaced by the spineless action of our Caucus. … Now, they blame the CHC as being obstructionist.”

But Baca refused to state whether the CHC would vote as a bloc against a more limited immigration measure. “I don’t know. That’s something we would like to see, to incorporate into [a] comprehensive” bill, he said.

Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for House Speaker Pelosi, placed the blame for the immigration quagmire on Republicans.

“Speaker Pelosi is committed to balanced, fair and bipartisan immigration reform legislation, but unless the president and the Republican leadership engage Democrats in a positive way instead of using this issue to score partisan political points, members will only grow more frustrated with the process,” he said.

Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, who has called for legislation to give employers access to more seasonal H-2B visas, said Congress has acted on that measure several times in recent years without wading into the dicey area of illegal immigration.

“It doesn’t minimize the importance of comprehensive immigration reform at all, but that is such a heavy lift in this election year that I believe we have to do the business we’ve been doing for several years now,” Allen said.

Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., another supporter of an H-2B visa increase, said he sympathizes with the CHC’s push for a comprehensive bill. Speaking of his own push for separate action on the H-2B bill, Delahunt said, “We all recognize that we have a variety of constituents.”

House leadership aides admit that the immigration hearing strategy is unlikely to morph into legislation before the election. The hearings are designed to call attention to the host of immigration-related problems that require congressional action.

Even though CHC is upset that the hearings are examining immigration in a piecemeal fashion, Baca acknowledged that members can use them to further explore the issue.

“You’ve got to get your foot in the door and if you don’t get your foot in the door, you can’t get past the door. But if you get your foot in the door, then you get the rest of the body in and if you get your body in then you begin to talk about the body and the components, and that’s what we’d love to do is talk about the body and the components,” he said.

by Fawn Johnson

Thu. Apr. 24, 2008