Santorum, Casey spar over immigration bill
Share with others:
In a speech and in new television ads, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum portrayed himself as a champion of strong borders yesterday while his challenger, Democratic state Treasurer Bob Casey, accused the incumbent of "demagoguing'' the immigration issue.
The candidates assailed one another's stands on the controversial debate after back-to-back appearances at a Downtown convention of municipal officials.
Their exchange followed weeks in which immigration has assumed a higher profile as the focus of the campaign's competing radio ads. It emerged after Mr. Santorum's vote against a Senate proposal that, in addition to strengthening border security, included provisions that would allow some illegal immigrants to take steps that would enable them to work legally in the United States and eventually become eligible to apply for citizenship.
Mr. Santorum was among those who unsuccessfully opposed the bill's passage, arguing that it would have the effect of conferring blanket amnesty for virtually all illegal aliens.
Mr. Casey said he would have voted for the bill. Along with other supporters, he disputed the amnesty characterization, noting that those immigrants eligible for a path to citizenship would have to pay fines and back taxes. The Republican ads have charged that Mr. Casey is an advocate of amnesty. The Democrat has responded with commercials contending that the incumbent is a hypocrite on the issue, pointing to seven Santorum votes against increased funding for border patrol officers.
Their squabble continued yesterday morning in their speeches and rival press conferences on the 17th floor of the Omni William Penn Hotel. While defending his voting record on border security issues, Mr. Santorum described a new legislative proposal that he said includes the less controversial security provisions of the Senate bill.
At the same time, his campaign began airing television commercials in which Mr. Santorum points to his own immigrant heritage, while, saying, "Unfortunately today, some enter our country with more sinister intentions. That's why I fought so hard to add thousands of new guards, to beef up our borders and for critical high-tech surveillance. To do anything less is not only dangerous, but an insult to those who have come to America by following the rules.''
In contrast to his radio ads, the new television spots don't mention his opponent. In his speech to the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities, however, the Republican took aim at Mr. Casey's argument that the Senate bill was not tantamount to amnesty. He contended that rampant forgery would defeat provisions intended to limit the proportion of immigrants eligible for naturalization.
"There's 11 million [who are] going to be providing these [forged documents] to the [Immigration and Naturalization Service] and, ultimately, everyone who is in this country illegally will be able to stay.''
In a press conference almost immediately afterward, Mr. Casey pointed out that Republican senators, including John McCain and Arlen Specter, voted for the Senate bill and join him in rejecting the amnesty contention.
"Whenever Sen. Santorum talks about it, he demagogues the issue,'' Mr. Casey said. "He does what he does very well -- demonizes problems and points fingers at people and divides people but doesn't come up with solutions.''
Mr. Casey faulted his opponent for not supporting sanctions against employers who hire illegal aliens, and, repeating an argument from his radio ads, the Democrat contended that while his opponent, "talks a good game about [border security], he voted against it seven times.''
Sen. Santorum dismissed the argument, and the votes cited, as political posturing.
"Every year, for purely political purposes, the other side offers an amendment to create 2,000, 3,000 -- they pick a number out of the air -- more border guards. They offset it by saying we're going to get rid of the tax cuts to pay for border guards. So every year there's a vote on paying for more border guards by raising taxes and I vote against it.''
He said that aside from those tax-related measures, he had consistently voted for increased border security.
One of the appeals of Mr. Casey's candidacy to some Democratic leaders is that, because of his relatively conservative stands on some social issues, such as abortion, he has the potential to neutralize Mr. Santorum's appeal to socially conservative Democrats who have been fertile ground for GOP candidates in recent elections.
Washington's immigration debate, amplified by conservative radio talk shows across the country, has the potential to stir similarly charged political reactions in a race in which some other emotional issues have been muted.
"It's not amnesty,'' Mr. Casey said. "That's the big lie in Washington and he's using that to appeal to people's fears.''
Mr. Santorum argued, however, that immigration has a different political dynamic than other contentious social issues.
"I don't see this as a liberal-conservative issue,'' he said. "There's a lot of blue-collar folks who are very, very concerned about this. There's a lot in the minority community who are very, very concerned, particularly in the African-American community ... I think this is a much broader issue.''
The prospects for the stripped-down legislation that Mr. Santorum proposed yesterday are in question at a time when the Republican majorities of the House and Senate are sharply at odds over the overall issue.
The House GOP has approved a stronger get-tough approach and appears to have little appetite for the broader revisions of the system favored by the Senate and the Bush administration.
"I think that we're headed down the path of doing nothing right now,'' Mr. Santorum said. "What I've suggested [to House Republicans] is take the security provisions of the Senate bill that they agree with and send that back to us.''
First Published June 24, 2006 12:00 am
