Immigration Bill Dead

Immigration legislation in the Senate, for some weird reason backed by the White House, appears to be dead for this session of Congress. Thank God: this was an utterly misbegotten, wrongheaded piece of legislation.

The primary defect in the bill, as the Rasmussen polling organization says, was that the bill focused too much on the status of illegal alients already present in the United States. Control of the border and reducing the influx of more illegal aliens was plainly a secondary concern.

The borders must be controlled first. Fences, more law enforcement, and a greatly expanded Border Patrol are needed at once. When the frontier with Mexico is back under control, then we can figure out what to do about illegal aliens already in this country.

The Republican Party is flirting with suicide on this issue. Just as Democrats must guard against listening to the Lefty university professor/peacenik crowd too much; the greatest error Republicans can make is to appear to be nothing more to voters than a congress of business interests. When the public chooses to trust Republicans with elective office, it's because Republicans are seen as adults on the issue of protecting the nation.

Controlling the national frontiers is protecting the nation. Being welcoming to immigrants is one thing. Welcoming people who violate our laws, or having certain financial interests winking at their illegal arrival because large numbers of immigrant labor depresses wages -- that's another.