A Conservative Crosses the Border

Immigration Compromise Backed as a Humanitarian Act

Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) is one of the most conservative senators, a torchbearer on antiabortion and family causes. His measured opposition to same-sex marriage and embryonic stem-cell research has made him a favorite of social conservatives, and he has emerged as a dark horse for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.

So it came as something of a surprise when Brownback joined forces with Democrats and maverick Republicans this week to try to push through a major restructuring of immigration laws that would offer most of the nearly 12 million illegal immigrants a work permit and a pathway to citizenship.

"This is probably the most divisive issue in America today, and I hope this compromise ends up bringing us together," Brownback declared at a news conference Thursday with his immigration allies, including Democratic leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

But Brownback is one of only a small number of Senate conservatives who favor helping undocumented workers gain legal status, and the bipartisan accord he helped negotiate unraveled yesterday before the Senate left on a two-week recess. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) and other conservatives derided Brownback's approach as amnesty for lawbreakers. "Essentially this is 12 million new green cards," Cornyn said.

Brownback, a Roman Catholic, says he approaches immigration from a humanitarian perspective and is unmoved by his colleagues' criticism. Voicing the views of many evangelical Christians, Brownback said he considers the plight of illegal immigrants a form of suffering.

"One of the key measures in any society is what you do for the so-called least of these," Brownback said in a floor speech laced with religious references. "People who have difficulty with status, difficulty having laws applied to them, have difficulty accessing the system are considered the least of these."

Catholic leaders, most notably Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Michael Mahony, have strongly backed proposals for legalization of undocumented immigrants and a guest-worker program. They see those efforts as a moral imperative that grows out of the biblical mandate to care for the stranger and show compassion for the poor.

Mahony has gone so far as to say that no Catholic politician could vote "in good faith" for the House-passed legislation that would crack down on illegal immigrants and punish those who help them. Many Jewish, Muslim and Protestant leaders have similarly backed legalization efforts.

But Brownback's support for a dramatic restructuring of the nation's immigration laws, including a version that emerged from the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, has angered many conservatives.

"Brownback Can Kiss '08 Run Goodbye," blasted the journal Human Events. The National Review online warned: "Conservatives will long remember his vote for this reckless proposal."

Some of Brownback's GOP colleagues believe his view of illegal immigration is simplistic and fails to take into account problems posed by a porous U.S. border with Mexico. "We ought to make sure our borders are secure first," said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah). "Then we'll see what we can do to be compassionate, and solve those problems."

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), the head of the House Immigration Caucus and a champion of the law-and-order approach embodied in the House-passed version of the legislation, accused Brownback of being "an extreme opponent of getting tough on illegal immigration."

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, who talks frequently with the senator, said Brownback should address the concerns of religious conservatives, including beliefs that a large influx of undocumented workers undermines the social fabric and that many of them do not learn English or attempt to assimilate into the larger society.

Brownback kept a low profile during the immigration debate. He appeared at one news conference announcing the compromise bill Thursday and was the last of 12 speakers -- although he lingered on stage afterward, while his Senate colleague Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), a Cuban immigrant, announced the deal to Spanish-language television stations. Later that night, when conservatives were pressing for major changes to the bill, Brownback slipped into Reid's office to urge him to fight to keep the package intact.

Brownback, 49, was raised on a farm and served as the Kansas agriculture secretary before he was elected to the House in the class of 1994. Two years later, he won the Senate seat vacated by former Senate majority leader Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.), who resigned to run for president.

The senator has worked on behalf of North Korean and Sudanese refugees, victims of sex trafficking, and stemming the AIDS epidemic, which he described at the 2004 Republican National Convention as one of the "greatest moral and humanitarian crises of our time."

He has championed an African American history museum on the Mall and issuance of a formal government apology to Native Americans. What ties all the issues together is "a sense of commitment to the vulnerables," said Michael Horowitz, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, who has worked closely with Brownback on humanitarian issues. "He really takes it to heart. It's for real to him."

President Ronald Reagan was Brownback's role model on immigration issues. The late president signed a law in 1986 that improved border enforcement and cracked down on employers for hiring illegal workers. But the bill also legalized 2.8 million undocumented workers.

"I think the conservative position is that we care for the individual," Brownback said. Every human being is "beautiful," as he puts it, including illegal farm workers and hotel maids. "My position is very consistent with Ronald Reagan, and that's about as conservative an icon as you can get."