It may take strange bedfellows to pass a broad revamping of the immigration system this year. If so, the Bipartisan Policy Center, a research group in Washington, appears to have assembled some.
Two Democrats â€" Henry Cisneros, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton, and Edward G. Rendell, a former governor of Pennsylvania â€" will join two Republicans â€" Haley Barbour, a former governor of Pennsylvania, and Condoleezza Rice, President George W. Bush’s secretary of state, will lead a new commission with the goal of prodding Congress to act.
Also on staff will be Rebecca Talent, who until recently was Senator John McCain’s chief of staff, having worked on the immigration issue for more than a decade.
In a conference call with reporters Monday afternoon, it was clear that the four leaders of the commission do not yet agree on the details of a comprehensive plan to change the nation’s immigration laws.
Mr. Rendell and Mr. Cisneros emphasize the need to have a “pathway to citizenship†for the country’s 11 million illegal immigrants, something Republicans often oppose. Mr. Barbour talked about the need for a guest worker program that unions dislike.
“It’s going to be difficult to reach agreement,†Mr. Rendell conceded. “There are many issues which are very thorny.â€
The group says it will try to develop consensus around a series of issues relating to immigration, and will push for specific solutions when it does. In the meantime, the leaders of the new commission appear to agree on one thing: It’s time to act.
Mr. Cisneros said he had high hopes that the commission would demonstrate “that there is bipartisan will to fix our immigration system.â€
“We know we have an issue that has to be resolved,†Ms. Rice, now a professor at Stanford University, said.
“No one is happy with the state of immigration policy today,†she added. “It’s high time that the! United States of America get a handle on this vexing problem. It goes right to the core of who we are.â€
