Gallegly, Beilenson Differ on Report’s Details

As Rep. Elton Gallegly unveiled his new Proposition 187-style solution to the nation’s illegal-immigration woes Thursday, Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson and other Democrats who played a role in developing the task force report expressed reservations with its sweeping nature.

With much fanfare, Gallegly, the Simi Valley Republican who chaired the task force, handed over the report to House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) Thursday, calling the document “the first, true comprehensive report dealing with illegal immigration.”

Gallegly added: “It may sound cold to some, but I make no apologies for putting those who have a legal right to be in the country at the head of the line.”

Gingrich vowed to use the group’s more than 100 suggestions--which he called “specific, common-sense, practical recommendations”--as a guide while Republicans push tough immigration reform through the House.

Beilenson, a Democrat representing the Conejo Valley, joined two colleagues in filing a dissent to the report, taking exception with some of the most contentious proposals--such as keeping illegal immigrants out of public school and requiring hospitals to report those without papers to authorities.

Still, Beilenson stressed the many recommendations on which he and the other task force members found common ground.

“The task force has been successful in addressing the problem of illegal immigration in a bipartisan, reasonable and fair manner,” Beilenson said.

Although billed as a bipartisan task force, critics note that the group had just six Democrats among its 54 members. Californians were heavily represented, with 23 slots. It took the group a matter of months to prepare the report, but it could take far longer, if ever, to approve some of the most contentious recommendations, lawmakers said.

“By the end of the year, we may not have all the recommendations in this report,” Gallegly acknowledged, adding that he was confident some comprehensive immigration bill would clear Congress in 1995.

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When Gingrich first tapped Gallegly to chair the newly created task force, some saw the appointment as a face-saving mechanism for Gallegly since he had lost out on the chairmanship of the immigration and claims subcommittee to Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R-Texas).

On Thursday, Gingrich singled out both men for praise.

Smith, as well, applauded Gallegly’s leadership, calling the task force report “incredible work” full of “many good recommendations.”

In fact, the bulk of the more than 100 proposals included in the report were also in Smith’s own immigration bill released earlier in the month, such as boosting the Border Patrol to 10,000 agents and making it easier for employers to verify the status of prospective employees.

At a news conference, Gallegly estimated that more than half the recommendations in the task force report also appear in Smith’s bill. Smith, in the only sign of disagreement between the two lawmakers, said there is more like 80% overlap between Gallegly’s report and his own.

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It is some of the key differences in the task force report that are the most contentious--such as requiring hospitals to report illegal immigrants seeking emergency health care, allowing states to ban illegal immigrant pupils from public schools and amending the Constitution to end automatic citizenship for the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants.

The National Council of La Raza, a Latino group, urged lawmakers in a statement Thursday to “cease the dangerous and ugly game of immigrant bashing for political gain.”

In their dissent, Beilenson and Reps. Howard L. Berman (D-Los Angeles) and Jane Harman (D-Rolling Hills) said raising the Border Patrol to 10,000 agents in the next three years was too fast a pace to adequately train the personnel. They said requiring hospitals to report undocumented patients would discourage some from seeking emergency health care and “could lead to greater public health risks.”

The lawmakers also disagreed with allowing states to ban undocumented immigrants from public schools, saying it “acts counter to the interests of American communities, contributing to crime, illiteracy, ignorance, and discrimination.”

Berman signed a separate dissent opposing the constitutional amendment to end automatic citizenship for those born in the United States. Beilenson, on the other hand, supports the idea and has introduced a bill in the House calling for such an amendment.