New Mexico News
| Emotions Flare Over Illegals |
| Posted by () on May 22 2008 at 1:32 PM |
WASHINGTON— Illegal immigration continues to give politicians fits, especially in election season.
An otherwise obscure vote in Congress this week prompted Rep. Steve Pearce to question Rep. Heather Wilson's work ethic, triggered tough talk from Albuquerque's mayor and cast renewed focus on New Mexico's "sanctuary cities."
Here's an example of the rhetoric:
"This is from the mayor of Albuquerque— Steve Pearce can stuff it," Mayor Martin Chávez said Thursday.
"He helped create this (overall U.S. immigration) mess through his inaction, and now he wants to politicize it," Chávez said.
But Pearce's challenge appeared to make Wilson uncomfortable: She missed the vote on the immigration issue this week, and a spokesman refused to say how she would have voted.
Pearce, who is battling Wilson for the June 3 Republican nomination to succeed retiring Sen. Pete Domenici, kicked up campaign dust when he criticized her for missing a string of House votes. She was back home in New Mexico, while Pearce remained in Washington this week.
One of the votes aimed to penalize states, counties and cities— including Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Rio Arriba County— that don't report illegal immigrants to federal authorities.
That vote failed Tuesday night when the House deadlocked on a rare 210-210 tie.
Pearce pounced after Wilson didn't show up to vote. The congressman from Hobbs fired off a letter to New Mexico rancher Kelly Peterson of Animas complaining that Wilson, who now represents the Albuquerque-based 1st Congressional District, was campaigning instead of working in Washington.
"It's tragic that the people's will lost by one vote, since Heather Wilson put her political ambitions above her responsibility as a congresswoman," Pearce said in the letter, which his campaign also released to the media.
Wilson's office confirmed that she spent the week in New Mexico and visited Los Alamos National Laboratories and ranchers in southern New Mexico. She has a fundraiser and meetings today in Albuquerque with Sun Healthcare and Kirtland Partnership Committee officials, her office said.
"Congresswoman Wilson is in New Mexico this week," said Enrique Carlos Knell, her communications director. "She has a full schedule and is talking to people about things that are important to New Mexico."
Knell declined to comment on whether Wilson would have voted for or against the so-called "sanctuary city" measure.
Twenty-one Democrats, including many viewed as vulnerable in 2008 elections, joined with Republicans and voted for the effort.
Congress has been struggling unsuccessfully for several years to pass substantial immigration reform. Pearce, who represents New Mexico's border with Mexico, maintains that he has worked hard to help craft a workable solution.
This week's legislation, which Pearce supported, would have stripped so-called "sanctuary cities" of their ability to issue federally tax-exempt bonds.
Law enforcement officials in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, as well as Rio Arriba County, do not report illegal immigrants to the federal government unless they are arrested.
The measure, which Republicans tried to substitute for a Democratic tax simplification bill, would have targeted states, counties and cities whose employees "are not required to notify federal officials of an alien who may be unlawfully present in the United States."
Chávez, while rejecting the term "sanctuary city" as a description for Albuquerque, said the House legislation would have applied to the city.
Chávez said most of Albuquerque's bonds are federally tax-exempt. Bonds allow cities to raise money, often for capital improvement projects such as municipal buildings or parks.
"It would be incredibly destructive of our bonding program," he said of the legislation.
Santa Fe Mayor David Coss also said the proposal would be devastating to Santa Fe.
"An attack on municipal bonding authority like this is almost breathtaking in how punitive it is," Coss told the Journal.
Marissa Padilla, a spokeswoman for Rep. Tom Udall, a Santa Fe Democrat who is running alone for the Democratic nomination for the Domenici seat, said he voted against punishing so-called sanctuary cities partly because it would have sqaushed the Democrats' underlying tax bill.
"Tom Udall stands in firm support of comprehensive immigration reform, however, this particular motion was nothing more than a political maneuver that would have killed the important underlying legislation that saves taxpayers money," the spokeswoman said.
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