After brilliant debate, the greatest deliberative body in the world, the United States Senate, has passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill (S. Bill 2611) that is supported by myriad peoples and by conservative, moderate and liberal senators ranging from conservative Sam Brownback to liberal Ted Kennedy.

Now comes the battle in a conference with House members who have passed their own bill, a non-comprehensive immigration bill that ignores reform. It has more physical enforcement and the criminal upgrading of previous civil violations, such a bill will make felons of babies carried over the border by mothers.

A Constitutional primer: Senators are elected statewide, two to a state. Individual districts elect House representatives--the districts are based on population.

When each branch of Congress passes a bill on the same subject, the branches must meet and confer to produce a bill they can both agree to in order to send it to the President who can sign or veto the negotiated bill.

We now have a Senate immigration bill and the one the House passed last December.

The House Bill (HR4437) and its stringent punishment provisions motivated millions to hit the streets in the largest political demonstrations ever in the United States. While House members and supporters were incensed by those demonstrations, while most of the country was impressed.

Many Americans even saw through the veil of hate by HR 4437 supporters who cried out vehemently against the display of Mexican flags by some of the demonstrators. They complained that these people were disloyal by waving the flags of Mexico, that they were in fact enemies of the United States.

Like most of HR 4437 emotional supporter statements and positions, this one has no currency when looked at from the Irish view and the Irish flags that are waved in America on St. Patrick’s Day, or the Italian flags that are waved on Columbus Day. Unemotional observers concluded the Mexican flags were celebrating the heritage of the flag wavers, not loyalty to Mexico. If they were loyal to Mexico, that is where they would live.

National surveys are all over the place, with overwhelming support for a wall and stronger enforcement (the House bill). The same surveys show overwhelming support for a guest worker bill (the Senate bill).

So, which branch of Congress will prevail in conference on immigration reform? The House is at a disadvantage for its bill is not comprehensive and is enforcement only. The Senate bill has enforcement, guest and temporary worker provisions, some of which lead to eventual citizenship.

In the final analysis, the House must come around and compromise or there will be no immigration reform bill this year, or, maybe ever.

Perhaps the House should look at three separate House elections, two special and one regular Republican Primary.

In Orange County, national attention was drawn to the Special Election to Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist who ran against establishment Republican State Senator John Campbell and was wiped out, coming in third with less than 7 percent of those eligible to vote.

In San Diego, the special election to replace imprisoned Duke Cunningham, Minutemen supported State Senator Bill Morrow and former assemblyman Howard Kaloogian between them received less that 14 percent of the vote.

The hard core enforcement people have lost another round in their fight. It started with the wipe-out of Pat Buchanan who ran for President on a vehement border policy; it continued when Jim Gilchrist was wiped out in Orange County and Morrow and Kaloogian performed so weakly in North County. The piling on continued in Idaho in Tuesday’s Republican primary.

Canyon County Commissioner Robert Vasquez, who claims to be the grandson of a Mexican immigrant, made national headlines when he sent bills to the Republic of Mexico for reimbursement for county expenses on illegal aliens. He ran a virulently anti-illegal alien, anti-Mexican campaign for an open for the Republican nomination to an open seat in Congress, Idaho’s District 1, in last week’s primary election. He lost -- bigtime.

Despite his idolization by anti-immigrant "news" people like CNN’s Lou Dobbs, despite his many appearances on every anti-immigrant radio talk show in the country, Vasquez did not do well.

Vasquez carried his home county with 38 percent, but was wiped out in the rest of the district. In some counties he received less than six percent of the vote. The final vote tally showed anti-Mexican immigrant candidate Vasquez with 13,615 votes, 18 percent of the total vote (one in five).

In the coming conference between the House and the Senate, House members need to reflect on the huge losses of people who supported their extreme House Resolution 4437. The Senate needs to press aggressively for its bill, for the American people have demonstrated at the ballot box over and over that they reject the extreme position that is HR 4437.

Contreras’s newest book—THE ILLEGAL ALIEN: A DAGGER INTO THE HEART OF AMERICA published by Floricanto Press is available and reviewed at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com