Why A 'Comprehensive' Bill Really Isn't Important

The White House is pushing hard for a 'comprehensive' immigration reform bill right now, trying to revive what the Senate rightly killed last week. They've sent out messenger after messenger saying that a 'comprehensive' bill MUST be passed RIGHT NOW.

Really? Why is that, exactly?

Clearly, the current system is not working, but that's not because of the system itself. The problem is that our political leaders lack the will to enforce the laws that are already in place. As Thomas Sowell says in a column yesterday on RealClearPolitics.com, "Both political parties know what is going on and both parties choose to see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. Neither wants to risk losing the Hispanic vote, though it is doubtful whether all Hispanics are in favor of open borders. The net result has been empty promises about controlling the border, paired with various schemes to legalize the illegal immigrants, and washed down with fraudulent statements that insult our intelligence." He goes on to point out three particular frauds:

1. illegals are 'needed' to fill jobs Americans won't do
2. we cannot 'in good conscience' prevent illegals from reuniting with their families
3. we must have 'comprehensive' immigration reform

He addresses these frauds this way:

1. There is no job Americans won't take if the pay is good enough, but there is no reason to increase the pay if illegals are available at low cost.
2. Why is it that the only place in the world illegals can reunite with their families is in the US? Why can't they reunite in their own country?
3. There is no logical reason that securing our borders and dealing with illegals already here must be dealt with simultaneously, only political reasons. [emphasis mine]

As Sowell says, "Passing border laws described as 'tough' gives Congress political cover when they legalize the illegals. It allows Congress to be on both sides of the issue, which is where most politicians want to be on most issues."

The problem, again, is the lack of enforcement. Case in point: last year, the Senate promised us a border fence. Where is it now? It doesn't exist in any meaningful form (it's just two miles long), as I mentioned in a previous blog.

President Bush met with Senate Republicans yesterday and said that 'doing nothing was unacceptable'. As the editors of National Review Online point out, that's odd because he has done nothing on immigration reform for the past six years. I would also add that it's apparently been perfectly acceptable for our leadership to do nothing for the past 20 years! The result is, as Sen. Jim DeMint says, that "[T]here is no excuse for anyone to believe that what’s in this bill is going to happen, except for the amnesty." I think that's very true, especially with the recent awareness raised by this shamnesty bill. Anyway, the editors go on to say that Senators on both sides of the aisle report that their constituents doubt the federal government's willingness to enforce immigration laws, and that a sustained commitment to enforcement is required before the American people will accept any talk of sweeping reform. Many Senators would support an emergency spending bill to beef up border security immediately, but the NRO editors point out that new spending "must be matched with a demonstrable political will to see our immigration laws enforced, or else Congress would have merely enacted a far more expensive version of the failed 1986 immigration reform."

There's no need for a sweeping 'comprehensive' reform. Just start with enforcement. When the American people are convinced that the government is holding up its end of the bargain, they'll support immigration reform easily and in large numbers.

There's my two cents.