Recent Elections to Impact Immigration Policy

For only the second time since 1934, one party will control the White House and Congress. As a result of the November 5^th elections, control of the House and Senate and Presidency now rest in the hands of the Republican party. Although the majority is only by a thin margin, it could affect the direction of immigration policy in the U.S. In particular, the election will cause the shifting of leadership positions in parties, committees and subcommittees.

Specifically, the Republicans increased their control over the House of Representatives. They now have a 227 to 206 majority with one independent member and one race left to be decided. As a result of the Democrats losses, Dick Gephardt (D-MO) resigned his position of Democratic Minority Leader in the House and this position was assumed by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). This is the highest Congressional leadership position a woman has held in either party. Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) is expected to move up the ranks of the Republican party due to the retirement of Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX) and J.C. Watts (R-OK). In addition, more closely linked to the direction of immigration policy, was the defeat of Rep. George Gekas (R-PA) by Tim Holden (D-PA). Rep. Gekas had served as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, and his defeat now leaves this position open. We will watch closely in the coming months to see who succeeds Rep. Gekas. Thus far there is no clear indication who the House Republicans will choose.

In the Senate, the Republicans also took control of the Senate with a 51-47 majority with one independent member and a run-off election to be held on December 7^th in Louisiana to determine the final member. In terms of the Senate Leadership, with the Republicans gaining control, Trent Lott (R-MS) will go from being the Minority Leader to the Majority Leader of the Senate. On the other side, Tom Daschle (D-SD) retains leadership of the Senate Democrats but lost his position as Majority Leader and will now act as the Minority Leader in the Senate. The loss of the Senate by the Democrats will also cause a flip in the leadership of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration as the Chair of the subcommittee will now be held by a Republican. At this point, it is expected that Ted Kennedy (D-MA) will continue to be the ranking Democrat for that subcommittee and act as the Ranking Member. However, it is less clear if Sam Brownback (R-KS) will move to the Chair position from his position of Ranking Member for the Republicans. It is important to remember that although the Republicans gained control of the Senate and won leadership positions in committees and subcommittees, their majority is based only on a few votes. With such a small majority in the Senate, the Republicans are not guaranteed to pass all their initiatives and bills without some deal-making and partisan politics are expected to continue to play a major role.

A major legislative priority of President Bush and the Republicans was to get the Homeland Security bill passed. The Republicans actually managed to push this bill through Congress during the lame duck session. This bill will impact immigration directly as it includes the demise of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service as well as a focus on immigration as a function of national security. Please see the article in this issue discussing the passage of the bill and its expect effects for more in-depth information.

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