WASHINGTON — The unorthodox plan by House Republicans for a series of hearings on immigration policy represents an aggressive effort by hard-line critics of illegal immigration to reassert control over the emotional debate -- and wrest it from President Bush -- as this year's elections approach.
In proposing hearings around the country in July and August, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has made plain that he and other Republicans are willing to scuttle Bush's top domestic priority rather than give ground on Senate legislation -- backed by the president -- that would provide a path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants.
The hearings will hand a giant megaphone to vocal conservatives, who White House officials had hoped would be overshadowed by the president's more moderate tone on how to rewrite immigration laws. And that is a major setback for Bush and GOP strategists who worry that rhetoric lambasting the citizenship provision will alienate the nation's growing number of Latino voters.
Also, the House decision to conduct the public hearings seems to all but ensure another high-profile policy flameout for a president who, after winning reelection in 2004, promised to spend his political capital on bold initiatives.
Last year, Bush's proposed restructuring of Social Security landed with a thud on Capitol Hill. Now, his usually steadfast allies in the House appear unmoved by his embrace of the Senate's multi-pronged immigration bill -- a view he promoted in a national speech in mid-May.
Hastert, who hatched the idea for hearings, denied it was a delaying tactic designed to kill the chances for any agreement on an immigration bill. But other House Republicans acknowledged the gambit aimed to build support for toughening border security -- the sole thrust of an immigration bill the House passed late last year -- and sought to spotlight opposition to combining that approach with the legalization provision in the Senate bill.
The White House and its allies on the immigration issue had been hoping House and Senate negotiators would begin meeting to iron out the differences between their bills. Rather than retreat behind closed doors for such talks, however, House Republicans have decided to focus on strengthening their bargaining position through the public hearings.
