Washington ? America is a land of immigrants, and official Washington mirrors their struggles and successes.

While the halls of Congress echo with a political battle over immigration laws, the sons, daughters and grandchildren of immigrants sit around the Cabinet table with President Bush – Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta.

Mel Martinez, who escaped from Cuba without his family when he was 15, was Bush’s first housing secretary and now represents Florida in the U.S. Senate.

Other members of first and second generation immigrant families serve throughout the administration – and in Congress, where some with direct immigrant ties like Martinez have played vocal roles in the debate.

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters attended rallies in dozens of U.S. cities on Monday in an effort to persuade lawmakers to end a political impasse and grant foreign-born workers more rights.

The demonstrations, which brought back memories of civil rights protests and anti-Vietnam war demonstrations of the 1960s, suggested that immigrant blocs, especially Hispanics, might play an influential role in this year’s midterm congressional elections.

Hispanics are the fastest-growing group of voters, and Bush has helped increase the GOP’s share of the Hispanic vote since 2000.

Congressional debate

At the heart of the congressional debate is whether to tighten border security and make illegal immigrants felons, as the House voted to do in December, or to provide both increased border security and a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal workers and family members in the U.S.

Bush, many senators of both parties, and the U.S. business community favor the latter approach. But with Democrats and Republicans blaming each other, the Senate left town for two weeks after failing to win support for a compromise.

The role of immigrants at high levels of government isn’t only felt in Washington. Two U.S. governors are foreign born – California Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger of Austria and Michigan Democrat Jennifer Granholm of Canada.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, was born in Los Angeles but grew up in Mexico, the son of a Mexican-born mother and a banker from Boston who worked for Citibank in Mexico City.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the president’s brother, has a Mexican-born wife, Columba.

President Bush made immigration overhaul a top agenda item in his 2000 presidential campaign. But he was slow in coming forth with details after his victory. And the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks diminished much enthusiasm for liberalized immigration policies.

“Our immigrant heritage has enriched America’s history. It continues to shape our society. Each generation of immigrants brings a renewal to our national character and adds vitality to our culture,” Bush told a group of new U.S. citizens last month.

Always a backlash

But over the nation’s history, each wave of new immigrants has been accompanied by a strong backlash, anti-immigration vitriol from many of those who were part of previous waves.

“Immigrant bashing is as American as mom’s apple pie,” said Fred Greenstein, a political science professor at Princeton University. “The latest batch of anti-Hispanic bashing, the suggestions that they’re indigestible – the same things were once said of the Germans, the Irish, Italians, almost every other group.”

Two members of Bush’s Cabinet are foreign born.

Labor Secretary Chao came with her family, legally, from Taiwan when she was 8. Her father worked three jobs to put six children through college. She is married to Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Gutierrez escaped from Cuba with his family when he was 5. He headed cereal giant Kellogg’s before joining Bush’s Cabinet last year as commerce secretary.

Gonzales, the attorney general, is the son of legal Mexican-American migrant workers. He grew up in Texas. Three of his four grandparents were born in Mexico.

Transportation Secretary Mineta, 74, who also served in the Clinton administration as commerce secretary and, earlier, in the House, was among 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry sent to an internment camp during World War II.