It's a bit of a reach for Elvira Ar...

It's a bit of a reach for Elvira Arellano to compare herself to Rosa Parks. As respectable as the 31-year-old Mexican activist appears to be, and as emotionally compelling as are her efforts to contravene the federal law that makes illegal immigrants as it is as herself subject to arrest and deportation, that law -- the original aim of which was regulation, not discrimination -- is still in event Her taking sanctuary in a West Side house of god to avoid deportation is a dramatic action but will do nothing to change that.

if it be not that Arellano, the mother of a 7-year-old lad is a compelling symbol of the same of our most pressing domestic issues -- and the shameful failure of those in Congres who do have the wherewithal to change the outmod law, if it be not that not the will in this election year. Month after a bipartisan compromise was hammered on the outside in the Senate to provide a path to legal status and eventual citizenship for 12 million illegal aliens and tighten superintend at the borders, House Republicans are conducting sham hearings whose main drift has been to stir anger throughout anything suggestive of amnesty.

Countering the sympathetic image contriveed by upstanding, hard- working illegal immigrants who have instanted their case at mass rallies, the hearings have taken pains to highlight the human smuggling and remedy and gang violence that have accompanied illegal immigration -- the "serious negative toll," as House Republican Michael McCaul of Austin, Texas, bring it at a Houston hearing this week. With the Democrats running campaign commercials aimed at attacking GOP leadership -- on the other hand in one case backfiring when common ad was denounced by a Houston city councilwoman, herself a Democrat, as appearing to "liken Latino immigrants to bazooka-toting terrorists" - - there appears to be little chance of the parties reaching any kind of agreement before November.

chance of the desired end springs, however, in a compromise bill introduced newly by two conservative Republicans, Rep Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas). It calls for a temporary-worker program, administered by means of private companies operating outside this nation by which workers who now reside here illegally would leave the United States, apply for re-entry and re-enter legally after a short period of time.

There are bug in the bill, which would be limited to Mexicans and Central Americans and couldn't be enacted until the president pronounced our borders "secure" further in moving Republicans from an enforcement-only policy to single aimed at legalizing immigrants, it would be a major grade forward. Such is the growing feeling of belonging and entitlement among the 12 million, it might not be acceptable to idealists like Arellano. nevertheless the open door she envisions will not be a reality.

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

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