To the Point

The Political Consequences of Immigration Reform

Majority Leader Bill Frist wants the Senate to vote on immigration reform this week. The House already has passed a bill that would criminalize 12 million undocumented workers who are already here and build 700 miles of border fences to keep others out. Frist likes that approach, but his own Republican Party is sharply divided. Fellow Republican Arlen Specter's Judiciary Committee has passed a bipartisan measure that would give those 12 million illegals a chance to earn citizenship. It would also establish a guest worker program for 400,000 temporary immigrants every year, which is what President Bush is asking. We hear about competing options, what the polls show and what the political consequences could be for both parties.Making News: Rice, Straw Pressure Iraqi Leaders to Form Unity GovernmentCondoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw went to Iraq on a mission so urgent that when rain prevented helicopters from flying, they took the dangerous road from the Baghdad Airport to the Green Zone in Baghdad itself. Their purpose was to speed up the process of forming a unity government. Aamer Madhani, who is in Baghdad for the Chicago Tribune, has a progress report.Reporter's Notebook: Divided Supreme Court Sides with Bush AdministrationJose Padilla, a former gang member who converted to Islam, was arrested in 2002 under suspicion of plotting to detonate a "dirty bomb" in the US. His attorneys claimed his being held without charge as a so-called "enemy combatant" violated his rights as American citizen. After three years, the Bush Administration charged him with a different offense. Today a divided Supreme Court refused to take up his original case. University of Miami Law Professor Stephen Vladeck has worked on several briefs on Padilla's behalf.