Campbell Raises Immigration Issue

Here in America’s sixth-largest city, home to the world’s busiest border crossing, no one has to explain the impact of Mexico or the complexities of immigration to political figures like Lucy Killea.

But Killea thinks U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein could use a lesson or two.

Although Feinstein has done some great things for California as a senator, Killea said, her views on Mexico have been unacceptable.

Too often, Killea said, Feinstein has treated Mexico--and immigrants--like political scapegoats.

“She has been very negative,” said Killea, a former Democratic state senator who runs an international assistance agency. “She has seen Mexico simply as a source of drugs. Period. And how do we deal with that? We close the border down. We charge everybody going back and forth.”

Killea’s frustration with California’s senior U.S. senator has been shared by many Latino leaders and is seen by Feinstein’s Republican opponent, San Jose Rep. Tom Campbell, as a potential vulnerability, particularly with the growing size and influence of the state’s Latino electorate.

But if they are upset with Feinstein, Latino leaders are not lining up behind Campbell. And if Latino voters are bothered by some of Feinstein’s positions, they haven’t shown it: Recent polls show Feinstein with a big lead among all voters, including Latinos.

Although Campbell has taken some stronger stands in favor of immigrants, he also has cast votes that undermine his claims of being an unqualified advocate on their behalf.

Still, Campbell sees opportunities to draw distinctions:

* As Feinstein took center stage at the August Democratic National Convention, Campbell launched Spanish-language ads criticizing her votes.

* In a recent speech to the Mexican American Political Assn., Campbell escalated that criticism, questioning why Feinstein voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“She supports free trade for China, but not Mexico,” Campbell said. “Let us ask her: What’s wrong with Mexicans?”

Many Latino activists and immigration advocates insist there is no doubt that Feinstein’s record has been, at best, mixed and, at worst, hostile.

“I think the senator does have a challenge before her in developing a Latino constituency,” said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. “I don’t think she has done an effective job at being the senator representing a state that is one-third Latino.”

Added Cecilia Munoz, vice president of policy for the National Council of La Raza: “I have been following her performance on the Judiciary Committee for a number of years now. And she has a mixed record with respect to immigrants.”

Border-Crossing Fee Proposed

In 1994, battling for reelection, Feinstein ran controversial television ads showing a flood of apparent illegal immigrants crossing the border, and proposed a series of measures including a $1 border-crossing fee that would pay for 2,100 more Border Patrol agents and stiffer penalties against illegal immigrants.

After winning a six-year term, Feinstein in 1995 called upon President Clinton to declare California “an immigration disaster,” and said stopping illegal immigration was her “No. 1 priority.” And, in a lengthy article about immigrants, she endorsed the idea of tamper-proof identification cards for employers.

After pushing for months in 1996 to reduce legal immigration, Feinstein led an unsuccessful effort to cut by more than 40% the number of immigrants admitted each year into the country.

“During the height of anti-immigrant sentiment in California, she was pretty up there in terms of . . . taking advantage of anti-immigrant feelings,” said Vargas. “Since then, political memory fades, people forget. But it is no surprise that it is only around election time I see her in East L.A.”

The 1994 campaign, in particular, sticks in the collective craw of Latinos who saw Feinstein as silent for too long on that year’s most contentious initiative: Proposition 187. The measure--to bar illegal immigrants from receiving many public services--was championed by former Gov. Pete Wilson and approved by voters before being largely struck down by the courts.

Although Feinstein did oppose Proposition 187, she announced her decision less than three weeks before the election and after many prominent Republicans, among them conservatives Jack Kemp and Bill Bennett.

“Proposition 187 was one of the most offensive initiatives to ever hit our community,” Munoz said, “and it was frustrating to have her come out as late as she did.”

At the Democratic convention, Feinstein dismissed the criticism.

“Any of you who covered that campaign knows I almost lost the election because of my opposition to 187,” Feinstein told reporters.

“I figured if I had to lose the election over my opposition to Proposition 187, I was prepared to do that. . . . Now that was an act of some courage.”

Former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) agreed.

“Dianne Feinstein opposed 187 . . . and she did that at a time of great personal risk, when she was in a tight race for reelection,” said Villaraigosa, who co-chairs Feinstein’s campaign with Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

Not everyone saw her actions in 1994 as courageous.

“Sure ,it took courage if all she was looking at were her own political fortunes,” said Vargas. “But was this about continuing her political life or doing the right thing?”

Silicon Valley millionaire Ron Unz, an early opponent of Proposition 187, also assailed Feinstein’s record.

“Dianne Feinstein arguably has the strongest anti-immigrant record of any politician in California with the possible exception of Pete Wilson,” said Unz. “And after Wilson did so well with that issue in his reelection race, Feinstein decided to jump ahead . . . and talked about cutting back on legal immigration.”

Immigration advocates and those who follow issues important to many Latino voters acknowledge that Campbell opposed Proposition 187 before Feinstein and took other, more acceptable positions on issues, such as NAFTA, that they say promote better U.S. relations with Mexico and Latin America.

But that does not mean Campbell will get their support.

Some experts say Feinstein has more recently been a solid immigration ally. Any day now, the Senate may approve a Feinstein bill giving the Immigration and Naturalization Service money to cut the backlog of applications for naturalization, visa and adjustments of status. Last week, she introduced a measure to increase protections for the more than 5,000 unaccompanied immigrant children in the custody of the INS.

ID Card, Limits on Immigration

Campbell’s record, meanwhile, has hardly been spotless in the view of immigration advocates.

In 1996 Campbell voted for a proposal by Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) that the Social Security Administration be directed to improve the design and material of its identification cards to guard against counterfeiting. The measure, which failed, was viewed suspiciously by immigration advocates as a foot in the door for a national identification card.

In 1998, he told a survey by Project Vote Smart, a nonpartisan voter education organization, that he would support decreasing the number of immigrants allowed into the country.

(Campbell said he supported a decrease only in illegal immigration, a distinction that is unclear by the imprecise wording in the survey. He added that his 1996 votes were aimed only at making existing Social Security cards safer from fraud.)

Munoz said: “I do think that over the years there has been quite a bit of frustration with Sen. Feinstein, but that is not to say that Congressman Campbell is a better bet. It is certainly not a clear-cut choice and immigration is not the only issue on which Latinos vote.”

And for all the comparisons, Campbell’s strategy may be for naught if Latino voters judge Feinstein’s record acceptable and continue to look at him skeptically as a Californian Republican.

“She is a Democrat in Pete Wilson’s home state so there is no mystery there about what that means [for Campbell],” said Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, a pro-immigrant policy organization in Washington, D.C.

“Look, she is smart,” he said. “At every turn, she does just enough to make it hard for people to say she is not with us. But getting her there is ‘wow.’ It takes a lot of work.”

Just how Feinstein may overcome resentment among voters was evident at a recent speech she gave in Monterey Park.

Addressing a largely Latino crowd of area business leaders, Feinstein’s remarks about education, health care and sharing America’s prosperity won a standing ovation from most of the 200 people in attendance.

But not everyone in the crowd was so forgiving.

“I think if the opposition makes a big issue out of [her positions], it may hurt her a bit, but not as bad as it should,” said Fred Herrera, a retired government affairs representative with the Department of Water and Power.

Recalling the “anti-immigrant” atmosphere fostered by some Republicans, Herrera, a Democrat, said Feinstein “unfortunately elected to go that way.”

“I don’t like it. But I am not sure how many people are going to take it out on her at the polls.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

On Immigration

Here are the major issues in the immigration debate between Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her November challenger, Republican Rep. Tom Campbell.

Legal immigration--Feinstein voted in 1996 to cut legal immigration by as much as 40% (the measure did not pass). Campbell said he opposes cuts in legal immigration.

National I.D. card--Though she said she has not called for a national identification card, Feinstein in 1995 wrote an article that included support for the idea of a tamper-proof I.D. card for employers. In 1996, Campbell supported two measures aimed at making Social Security cards more secure; he says those efforts dealt with improving existing cards, not establishing new ones.

INS cases--This year, Feinstein introduced a measure to give the Immigration and Naturalization Service more money to cut the backlog of applications for naturalization, visas and adjustments of status. Campbell also supports more money to expedite reduction of the INS backlog.

Proposition 187--Both Feinstein and Campbell opposed the 1994 initiative barring illegal immigrants from most public services.