GOP calls 'elite' out of touch on immigration

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House Republicans, returning from a month of field hearings on illegal immigration, yesterday warned of a gaping disconnect between American voters and many "elite" lawmakers.

"I have never seen such a disconnect between the American people and the elite," said Rep. Peter T. King, the New York Republican who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee and held two hearings last month.

Mr. King said securing the border this year is a cornerstone to national security and the war on terrorism. He called for more Border Patrol agents, more detention facilities for captured illegals and more unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol the border.

Testimony by Mr. King and others came during a "forum" yesterday before the Republican Policy Committee at which committee chairmen who held field hearings during the August recess could report their findings to Republican leadership.

Yesterday's packed meeting was yet another rebuke of the Senate immigration reform bill that would grant citizenship rights to about 10 million illegal aliens already in the country. Republicans attacked the Senate bill for granting Social Security benefits to illegals, hampering the ability of local police to detain illegals and requiring the U.S. government to consult with Mexican officials before building a border fence.

Also, House Republican leaders said yesterday's forum would set the stage for a new slate of border-security proposals they hope to pass the House before the November elections.

The Senate, like the majority of Democrats in the House, has refused to approve border-security legislation unless it includes proposals to grant citizenship rights to illegals and create a guest-worker program.

But House Republicans said yesterday, one day after marking the five-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks, that border security is too important to the war on terror to allow it to wait until agreement can be reached on the other components.

"There is a very simple reason why we need border security," said Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the Michigan Republican who chairs the House intelligence committee. "We are a nation at war. We face a very dangerous enemy that is intent on attacking us again."

Rep. Harold Rogers, Kentucky Republican, said legislation approved this year has improved the situation on the border. He noted $21.2 billion in new spending for Border Patrol agents, detention beds and other "border security tools."

As a result, he said, 99 percent of aliens apprehended along the Southwest and northern borders are being detained for deportation, compared with only 34 percent a year ago. Also, agents rounded up 66,000 aliens along the Southwest border in July, 34,000 fewer than in July 2005.

"What you are doing is working and that's having an effect," Mr. Rogers said.

Still, said Rep. Adam H. Putnam, the Florida Republican who chairs the Republican Policy Committee, more needs to be done.

"Our pressing border-security issues before us, however, cannot be delayed," he told his committee yesterday.