Immigration and Politics

Mickey Kaus thinks the GOP may have found its salvation for the 2006 midterm elections -- getting tough on illegal immigration. He even thinks the President's approach gives the GOP long-term cover from being viewed as anti-Latino -- which is the reason most ascribe to the President's efforts to get a guest worker program passed.

I actually disagree with the conventional wisdom on why Bush favors guest workers -- while members of his adminstration (coughKarlRovecough) make the political calculations, I think Bush is following his heart and his Texas roots here. As Governor of Texas, Bush forged close ties with Vicente Fox in Mexico, and he made inroads with the Latino vote. He has a different experience that leads him to believe that the majority of these illegals are merely seeking to grab a piece of the American dream, and his compassionate side makes him more likely to think we should make this possible.

I disagree with the President on this issue, but it's not like the rest of GOP has found a coherent voice elsewhere, save for zealots like Tom Tancredo. I fall somewhere in the mushy middle of the party on this issue -- I generally think open borderes can be a good policy and contributes to the betterment of America by having ambitious people come here to better themselves, but I think it's ridiculous that we have highly qualified people unable to enter the country due to restrictions on legal immigration while illegal immigration goes unchecked. And that's without acknowledging the entirely legitimate worry that terrorists and criminals will make their way across the border thanks to our lax enforcement practices. I know that no one of Hispanic descent had anything to do with bringing down the World Trade Center. But if another terrorist attack takes place and we learn the terrorists entered the country illegally... well, they may have more than a wall built on the border. You may see mined tranches. Supporting enforcement mechanisms that are reasonable, such as serious fines for companies that hire undocumented workers, is a good idea compared to having to fight a tide of public opinion if something horrible happens.

I do think the mass rallies by illegal immigrants are a bad idea. As noted, the legislation passed by the House and under consideration by the Senate is pretty reasonable...

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that would make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally, impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, require churches to check the legal status of people they help, and erect fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border.

I'm not sure I agree with the churches portion of this deal, but the rest of it strikes me as reasonable. And rallying against it strikes me as a sure-fire way to agitate voters the other way, as stated by Instapundit.