Honchos push immigration reform

A group that includes NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, and Disney CEO Robert Iger believe that the way to stimulate the economy is by offering an easier path to legal status for undocumented immigrants. From AP:

Bloomberg has for years criticized the federal government for its immigration laws, proposing in 2006 a plan that would have established a DNA or fingerprint database to track and verify all legal U.S. workers. The billionaire mayor, a former CEO of the financial information company Bloomberg LP, also said at the time that all 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States should be given the opportunity for citizenship, saying that deporting them is impossible and would devastate the economy.

These kinds of efforts rarely amount to much, but what's interesting here is how it illustrates the changing dynamic of the Republican party. By taking a reasoned (dare I say intelligent) approach to the problem, moderates like Bloomberg and Murdoch are clearly at odds with the party's conservative base.

William Gheen, president of the Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee, which supports strict immigration laws, called the CEOs "traitors" and said he and his supporters are discussing a possible boycott of the companies involved. "What is it with these billionaires who want to betray Americans that have made them who they are?" Gheen said. "This country club doesn't seem to care about anything but their money and power. Millions of Americans are unemployed and underemployed, and they want to turn millions of illegals into voters."