Congressional Hispanic Caucus Divided Over Timing of Amnesty Bill

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are divided over the timing of an Amnesty bill in Congress. While some feel now is the time to push for an Amnesty for the nation’s 11-18 million illegal aliens, other Members of the Caucus feel the timing is bad with mid-term elections coming in the fall.

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) was quoted in the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call as saying a debate over the Amnesty issue in the Senate this summer, even if it failed, would show Hispanic voters which Senators are serious about reforming the nation’s immigration system. Rep. Grijalva recently called for a boycott of his own state after the Arizona legislature passed a tough enforcement bill, SB1070.

Rep. José Serrano (D-N.Y.), who recently called for Major League Baseball to move their 2011 All-Star Game out of Arizona in response to SB1070, was quoted in the same article as saying that Hispanic voters will not be satisfied unless an Amnesty bill is passed before the November elections.

“We need to have legislation because we are beginning to see signs of how bad this is going to get, and we can’t accept that,” Rep. Serrano said referring to Arizona’s law. “We can’t allow that to happen. We definitely have to have reform.”

Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) warned, however, that any action in the Senate should reflect a movement towards reform instead of political posturing.

Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-Texas) said it would be better if Congress waited until after the elections before acting on an Amnesty bill. He worries that too many lawmakers would view the issue from a “campaign perspective” rather than objectively looking at the issue.

For more information, see Roll Call (subscription required).