By Lisa Mascaro (contact)

Fri, Feb 1, 2008 (2 a.m.)

JONATHAN ERNST / SPECIAL TO THE SUN

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., ended a debate — but not the controversy — over whether illegal immigrants should get tax rebates.

Washington — The reviews are still coming in on whether Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign is the hero or the bad guy in the debate over whether illegal immigrants will get tax rebates under the economic stimulus package now going through Congress.

Republicans, and some Democrats, are breathing a collective sigh of relief after Ensign swooped in this week to block undocumented workers from receiving rebate checks of $500 or more, dousing a fire that could have rapidly spread.

Foes of illegal immigration had latched onto the idea that undocumented workers could qualify for rebates under the House bill. Republican leadership insisted the bill was fine — the parties are trying to play nice in hope of passing a stimulus package in time to actually do some good for the ailing economy.

But Ensign stepped in with a Senate provision to ensure undocumented workers could not receive checks. The move made some Republicans nervous: It could have been seen as stoking the fire.

But his proposal was embraced by the Senate Finance Committee chairman, a Democrat, and the committee’s top Republican. They folded it into the bill.

Ensign was the hero. The fire was put out.

“At the time it made folks nervous ... but he obviously viewed the situation, made a calculation, and it was a correct one,” a senior Republican aide said. “It made a bad situation better very quickly.”

Or not.

On Thursday, immigrant rights advocates were disheartened at what they saw as Ensign and other lawmakers interjecting illegal immigration into the economic debate. They see it as lawmakers being more interested in creating a political wedge than fixing the broken immigration system that has resulted in 12 million people living in the United States illegally.

“Immigrant communities are horrified,” said Dinah Wiley, an attorney at the national Immigration Law Center, which advocates on behalf of those here illegally.

“Undocumented workers will stimulate the economy with their rebates right along with everyone else,” she said. “If the goal is economic stimulus, why are we carving out groups?”

Ensign’s provision says no rebates can be given to those who file tax returns with a taxpayer identification number rather than a Social Security number.

Taxpayer identification numbers have been increasingly used by undocumented workers to establish a financial history with the federal government. Many immigrants believe that paying income taxes would help put them on a path to citizenship under proposals entertained by Congress in recent years. The Sun reported that 1.4 million returns nationwide, not all by illegal immigrants, were filed using the ID numbers in 2006. The number has probably grown since then.

Ensign’s provision also requires both parents to have valid Social Security numbers to collect the $300 rebate proposed for children, even if the child has his own valid Social Security card.

Immigration law experts add that Ensign’s amendment may inadvertently prevent those who are legally living and working in this country from receiving rebates.

What remains unaddressed in both the House and Senate versions of the bill is a way to block rebates for those using fraudulent Social Security cards. The bills say only valid Social Security cards will qualify — but experts say sorting out the fake from the real requires broader immigration reform.

Last year, a wide-reaching attempt to change the nation’s immigration laws, which had been backed by the White House and a bipartisan coalition of senators, broke down after weeks of debate.

Doug Rivlin, spokesman at the National Immigration Forum, said the dust-up this week shows the push by anti-illegal immigrant groups and allies on the Hill “to make every issue an issue about illegal immigration.”

“Let’s fix the system with a rational solution and move on,” he said. “They’re trying to attach immigration to everything that’s moving through Congress.”

On that point, some Republicans on the Hill agree.

“Had we passed an immigration bill last year we might not be debating this point right now,” the GOP aide said.