EckerNet.Com

I haven\’t written on the immigration issue for awhile because quite frankly most of Washington has had enough of the issue, as the debate of 2007 was a disaster nobody wants to repeat.  Well nobody except for President Disaster himself.

The Obama administration will insist on measures to give legal status to an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants as it pushes early next year for legislation to overhaul the immigration system, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Friday.

When I hear this I think back on the snarky insult \”When last I saw you, you had hit rock bottom.  I see you\’ve begun to dig\”.  This is an issue that nobody is excited to see come up and even fewer are likely to support.  For one none of the Republicans in Congress will feel pressured to support it now that it\’s not Bush pushing the issue.

What\’s more, even when it was Bush pushing the issue there were Democrats that didn\’t want to move forward with amnesty.  With Obama\’s magic haven\’t lost it\’s shine, there is little motivation for Democrats to attempt to cling to his shrinking coattails.  Plus with a flagging economy and unemployment in the double digits, Congress trying to force through amnesty for millions of illegal will be even less popular with the public than health care.  And taking place less than ten months from an election, there is little to no time for that hostility to wear off.  Democrats aren\’t going to be much in a mood to entertain a pariah such as amnesty.

Laying out the administration’s bottom line, Ms. Napolitano said officials would argue for a “three-legged stool” that includes tougher enforcement laws against illegal immigrants and employers who hire them and a streamlined system for legal immigration, as well as a “tough and fair pathway to earned legal status.”

Problem is that this is little different than what Bush was pushing and as I mentioned, conditions have not improved.  In fact they\’ve worsened greatly.  We\’ve been promised enforcement before but all we got was amnesty.  And there is no reason why enforcement can\’t be passed separately from amnesty.  Well no reason other than it has no chance of passing.  Especially when the need for cheap labor is hardly going to fly in the face of double digit unemployment.

Speaking at the Center for American Progress, a liberal policy group in Washington, Ms. Napolitano unveiled a double-barrel argument for a legalization program, saying it would enhance national security and, as the economy climbs out of recession, protect American workers from unfair competition from lower-paid, easily exploited illegal immigrants.

If the motivation is truly to protect the American worker, introduce millions of people competing from the same scarce jobs is hardly the way to do it.  A better way would be to simply improve enforcement measures and increase penalties for employers that employ illegals.  Of course, the Obama Administration is going to try to play that card.

Drawing a contrast with 2007, when a bill with legalization provisions offered by President George W. Bush failed in Congress, Ms. Napolitano said the Obama administration had achieved a “fundamental change” in border security and enforcement against employers hiring illegal immigrants. She said a sharp reduction in the flow of illegal immigrants into the country created an opportunity to move ahead with a legalization program.

The sharp reduction in illegal is due to the economy not any sort of enforcement.  While we have hired quite a number of new border control agents it\’s still a hell of a big border.  And the Obama Administration, or the Bush administration for that matter, can talk all they want fencing they\’ve built.  It doesn\’t change the fact that most of that fencing is simple string fencing of the type you see dividing fields in your average rural Midwestern farm, hardly suitable for a national border.

Sorry Obama and Napolitano, like most of your other endeavors, this is a disaster in the making.  Which isn\’t to say we don\’t need to be vigilant.  If you\’ve proven one thing it\’s your determination to force through your agenda no matter how much the public opposes it.  So while this is likely to end in utter failure, it\’s also going to require great effort to defeat once again.  Although some of the opposition writes itself, as noted by Capt Ed….

Are Democrats really more interested in enforcing criminal penalties for unconstitutional mandates to buy insurance than they are in enforcing legitimate immigration laws?  Because that’s what Napolitano suggests in her political prognostication.  You can bet that those mandates and their enforcement will form a core argument from Republicans against a push for amnesty

In truth I suspect this is more Obama\’s attempt to placate some of his supporters.  Obama made an awful lot of promises during his campaign.  He\’s going to have to at least attempt to accomplish some of them, or he may find himself standing alone amongst a see of enemies.