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The Immigration Reform Caucus, established in May 1999 by Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), a leading conservative in Congress who promotes a far-right agenda in both domestic and foreign policy, has grown from a small caucus of a dozen House members in its early days to more than 90 members in early 2007. Membership declined after the 2006 midterm elections, when some 10 members lost their seats (for additional information about caucus membership, see Rocky Mountain News, February 7, 2007).

According to caucus member Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), the main goals of the congressional group are to combat the purportedly "explosive growth" in "illegal immigration" to the United States, reverse the growth of legal immigration, and halt efforts to provide what he calls a "mini-amnesty" for undocumented migrants. The caucus also promotes the idea, one sharply disputed by migration scholars, that irregular migration represents a terrorist threat to the country. Says Price on his congressional web site: "With the events of September 11 ... the caucus continued to establish and emphasize the link between open borders, unregulated immigration, and the potential for terrorism."

Caucus founder Tancredo has also repeated this connection, saying on his presidential campaign website (TeamTancredo.com): "The war America is already engaged in will not be fought like the wars of the past. After witnessing the tragic terrorist attacks against the nation, it is now time to coordinate the efforts of federal, state, and local agencies to provide better homeland defense. Tomorrow's attacker is more likely to board a commercial airliner bound for the United States with a tourist or student visa—or he may simply walk across our porous southern or northern border carrying a device in his backpack. These issues must be addressed. We are, I believe, in a clash of civilizations. That clash is fought on many fronts—some military, some diplomatic, and still others, ideological."

The vast majority of caucus members are Republican, and most are low-profile House members, with some prominent exceptions like Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). Some caucus members, like Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), are leading voices of the Christian Right and right-wing social conservative movements. The caucus includes three 2008 Republican presidential contenders: Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul, and Tancredo. In late January 2007, Tancredo, who has led the caucus since his first term in the House, turned over caucus leadership to Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA).

"Congressman Bilbray was asked to lead the Immigration Reform Caucus because of his pragmatic approach to the illegal immigration issue," Tancredo said. "Brian has held the line against amnesty, fought for border security, and will be a terrific leader of the Immigration Reform Caucus" (Bilbray press release, February 6, 2007).

Outlining his goals for the caucus, Bilbray said: "Congressman Tancredo has played an instrumental role in keeping the illegal immigration issue at the forefront of national attention. I look forward to building on his foundation and working to keep the [Immigration Reform Caucus] engaged in the illegal immigration policy debate. I hope to expand the Immigration Reform Caucus to include lawmakers from both parties who share our commitment to address illegal immigration in America" (Bilbray press release, February 6, 2007).

The formation of the caucus in 1999, largely by right-wing social conservatives, came at a time when the pro-immigrant sentiment that was widespread in the booming 1990s was starting to wane as optimism about the U.S. economy and its job-creating capacity began to fade. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) reportedly encouraged the then-recently elected Tancredo to make his name in the House by taking a high-profile role in the immigration debate.

Before 9/11, the caucus brandished the standard restrictionist arguments and statistics to oppose amnesty and guestworker expansion proposals, while at the same time supporting increased border security and interior law enforcement to stem illegal immigration. However, after the George W. Bush administration launched its " global war on terrorism," caucus members quickly integrated homeland security arguments into their case for more restrictions on both legal and illegal immigration, seeking in their words "to establish and emphasize the link between open borders, unregulated immigration, and the potential for terrorism" (House Immigration Reform Caucus, "Our History").

What happens with the immigration debate during the 2008 presidential race will be instructional. During the August 2004 Republican Convention, members of the caucus were unsuccessful in their efforts to insert immigration restrictionist planks into the Republican Party platform. Tancredo lambasted the platform committee, charging: "They have not only ignored the base of the Republican Party but the will of the American people." Tancredo and other caucus members had lobbied the party's national committee to include the following "three commonsense amendments": opposition to an agreement with Mexico that would allow Mexican access to Social Security credits for periods when the individual was not legally in the United States; a resolution calling for state governments to deny driver's licenses to persons without residency or work documents; and opposition to any legislation or executive agreement allowing persons illegally in the United States to gain legal status without first returning to their country of origin and applying for admission.

Anti-immigration forces are gaining new clout in a U.S. political climate characterized by fear and vulnerability. Immigration restrictionists had previously been unable to generate much interest in their draconian proposals to crack down on all immigration flows. However, the surge in xenophobic sentiment associated with the "global war on terrorism" and widespread job loss have given rise to a new wave of anti-immigrant initiatives.

On Capitol Hill, immigration restrictionists had until the last several years failed to gain much traction for their proposals. However, the immigration restrictionists, led by Tancredo, succeeded in attaching many of their anti-immigration proposals to the intelligence reform bill passed by the House in October 2004.

With the changing of leadership of the caucus, the website of the Immigration Reform Caucus has been in transition from Tancredo's congressional website to Bilbray's. The former website of Tancredo's Immigration Reform Caucus bore many similarities to the websites of nativist, vigilante, supremacist organizations such as the American Border Patrol and Council of Conservative Citizens.

The council posted on its website a recent video of an interview with Tancredo, in which he states that: "The most serious domestic policy issue facing the USA is the one of illegal immigration. Immigration in its entirety, but illegal immigration specifically" (Jim Rizoli interview, January 27, 2007).

Although anti-immigration forces have long used such security terms as invasion, occupation, and infiltration to describe immigration flows, the war on terrorism has bolstered their attempts to link immigration restrictionism and national security. When the 9/11 Commission issued its final report, Tancredo said that he found "the lack of border enforcement recommendations troubling." Repeating his one-note message, Tancredo warned, "The report fails to recognize one fundamental fact. Unless we dedicate the energy required to shore up our first line of defense—border security and immigration enforcement—many of the other recommendations will be cosmetic at best, and at worst, completely irrelevant."

Tancredo's add-ons to the House Intelligence Reform Bill bring through the back door measures that he and other anti-immigration restrictionists have been unable to pass on direct votes. The House bill—approved in a 282-134 vote—differs considerably from both the Senate version and the 9/11 Commission recommendations in that it contains restrictions on immigrants seeking political asylum, a curtailment of due-process rights for non-citizens, and federal restrictions on the type of documentation that government entities can accept as valid forms of identification.

The House bill, which was supported by the House leadership despite White House concerns, also included a provision that would abbreviate the deportation procedures for immigrants who have been in this country for less than five years. According to the liberal National Immigration Forum, "These 'drive-by' deportations, with no immigration judge, no due process, no day in court, and no realistic opportunity to defend one's self from swift deportation, have no business being in a bill that purports to implement the 9/11 Commission's recommendations" (October 1, 2004).

Please note: IPS Right Web neither represents nor endorses any of the individuals or groups profiled on this site.