Burned by immigration bill, Kyl turning to new issues

Following the collapse of the Senate’s immigration reform bill late last week, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said he’s prepared to move onto other issues.

“We’ve got the defense authorization bill coming up the week after the recess,” he said Friday. “And we have a lot of work to do on it. So that’s what we’re working on.”

No wonder Kyl is preparing to move onto something else when the Senate resumes its schedule after the week-long Fourth of July recess.

The last issue exposed him to new levels of disrespect.

Kyl previously enjoyed something akin to protected status in the Senate.

While Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., grabbed the headlines, Kyl largely worked behind the scenes, earning notice last year by Time magazine as one of the nation’s 10 best senators — and as an “ultraconservative.”

Kyl won re-election to a third term in the fall, assuring voters throughout his campaign that he opposed amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Then in spring, Kyl banded with McCain, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and others to write the immigration reform bill, which topped President Bush’s domestic agenda.

A fair number of conservatives in the Republican Party immediately turned on Kyl.

State party chairman Randy Pullen sent an e-mail to 86,000 voters stating that Republicans who care deeply about the state and love the nation should be disappointed in the immigration reform measure.

State Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, called Kyl and McCain “traitors” for pushing the bill.

Republican protesters outside a Democratic fundraiser featuring former President Bill Clinton in Scottsdale used bullhorns to make anti-Kyl and anti-McCain chants.

The national conservative activist organization Grassfire. org broadcast television commercials both nationally and in Arizona that stamped Kyl and McCain with “I (heart) amnesty” slogans.

Kyl endured the worst of it because, unlike McCain, who spent much of the spring traveling the country campaigning for the GOP presidential nomination, Kyl remained in Washington and took a leadership role in trying to secure passage for the measure.

Among other things, the bill was designed to offer legal status to millions of illegal immigrants who met certain conditions.

Kyl said he never considered the bill as amnesty for illegal immigrants. The bill required them to register with the government, pay fines and back taxes, learn English and undergo background checks.

Kyl tried to convey that though a variety of means, but it didn’t help much.

The senator told the Tribune he has come to expect condemnation while working in the political arena.

“That’s part of public life and part of the legislative process,” he said. “My mother once said what you say about others says more about you than it does about them.”

The majority of political commentators and constituents who spoke about him or to him simply were upset about the federal government’s inability to deal effectively either with illegal immigration or border security, he said.

Kyl said he understands those types of sentiments. But the other type of sentiments were perplexing. “There are a few people who are very discourteous,” he said.

Kyl has said he plans to seek new funds for Border Patrol agents, construction of border fences and barriers, and that he planned to introduce legislation for immigration enforcement at the workplace.

The senator will have ample time to re-establish his conservative credentials, said Paul Lewis, assistant professor of political science at Arizona State University.

“In some sense, that’s the luxury of the Senate,” he said. “It allows you to be a little bit more statesmanlike, even when you’re departing from the views of your constituents. You’ve got six years to establish a portfolio of legislation and track record and assistance to your state.”

In the long term, Kyl’s position on the immigration issue may even bolster his political profile.

“To some people, it may give him a little more depth or make him less easy to caricature,” Lewis said.