Gallegly Leaves Hospital Bed to Join Immigration Debate

Rep. Elton Gallegly left a hospital bed Tuesday afternoon to join in the early maneuvering as Congress began debate on overhauling the nation’s immigration laws.

Looking haggard and suffering from flu-like symptoms that put him in the hospital Monday, Gallegly took part in a procedural vote and delivered some brief remarks on the subject, then headed home.

“I don’t feel well, but the nation’s immigration laws aren’t well, either,” Gallegly said as he left the Capitol.

The Simi Valley congressman, who has put in long hours preparing for the House debate, was released from George Washington University Hospital on Tuesday afternoon after being treated for severe dehydration.

The sudden illness could not have come at a worse time for Gallegly, who has worked for years to reform immigration laws and has played a prominent role in bringing the current bill to the floor.

Debate on the legislation began Tuesday afternoon. It is expected to continue today and Thursday, stretching into the evening hours.

Sick or not, Gallegly said he will struggle to the podium today to push two amendments--one to allow states to deny public schooling to illegal immigrants and another to implement a mandatory worker verification system in California and other high-immigration states.

“I’ve been working on this issue for nine years and I can’t let some little episode keep me away,” Gallegly said before leaving the hospital. “Barring an act of God, I will be there.”

Gallegly was discussing the immigration bill on a local cable television show Monday night when he began complaining of illness during commercial breaks. He was shaking uncontrollably, he said, and eventually vomited. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

“I could see when he came in that he was really worn,” said Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform and the moderator of the show. “He came off the show and lost his lunch, so to speak.”

Despite sounding groggy in a telephone interview, Gallegly joked about possible political causes of his woes.

He accused House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) and Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), who oppose key portions of the immigration bill, of slipping something into his water to knock him out of the debate.

And then he added: “My body has rejected all the misinformation out there” spread by the bill’s critics.

Even after 14 hours with an IV strapped to his arm, Gallegly continued to pitch the need for a mandatory program to force employers to tap into a government database on the work status of new hires.

One of the well-wishers who contacted Gallegly on Tuesday was Gov. Pete Wilson, who knows a thing or two about untimely illness. In 1985, the then-senator cast a critical budget vote after being rushed to the Capitol on a gurney after an emergency appendectomy.

“Let us just hope that I don’t have to vote in the style that Pete did,” Gallegly said.