The Washington Times reports:
Labor unions, which are among the Democratic Party's most loyal supporters, are deeply at odds with the party's push for a guest-worker program, and many Capitol Hill aides say erosion of labor's support undermined the Senate immigration-reform bill last week.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says guest-worker programs supported by top Democrats such as Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and Dianne Feinstein are a "bad idea and harm all workers."
"They cast workers into a perennial second-class status and unfairly put their fates into their employers' hands," said Mr. Sweeney, whose organization represents 13 million workers in 54 unions.
While labor unions say they want immigration reform, there is division among unions who support guest workers, such as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and those who fear current Senate proposals will flood the U.S. job market and further undercut American workers with cheap labor.
It appears that
Mickey Kaus is right on this is: the Democratic Party isn't one happy family of interest groups on this issue.It's hard to see how a guest worker program could be supported by much of the union membership who don't want competition in wages.The immigration issue really does affect both parties and the Democratic Party could be the big loser in the long run.Here's
Debra Orin's take on the immigration issue:
IT LOOKS as if voters are starting to tilt toward get-tough Republicans on immigration - and those massive protest rallies by illegal aliens waving flags have backfired.
Republicans are now more trusted on immigration - 37 percent trust them on the issue, while just 31 percent trust Democrats, according to a national survey by the Rasmussen Reports Web site done April 8-9.
That marks a Democratic slide from 10 days earlier, when both parties were equally trusted on the hot issue. Thirty-eight percent said they trusted Republicans and 37 percent trusted Democrats.
"The Democrats lost ground," said pollster Scott Rasmussen. "I suspect there’s backlash against the rallies, and the Democrats appear to be against enforcement. People say beforewe talk about reforms, we ought to enforce the law."
Rasmussen - who accurately predicted the 2004 presidential election - notes that 57 percent of Americans want a barrier built along the Mexican border, even though only 42 percent think it would really cut illegal immigration.
