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May 5, 2005
Immigration Reform Still on the Table
The Wall Street Journal had a nice editorial yesterday on the subject of immigration reform:
Immigration Reality Check
"Seal the border" populists on cable news and talk radio maintain that anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. is ascendant. But a recent Senate vote shows more support for the type of guest-worker initiative that President Bush proposes. Economic reality bites -- even in Congress.
Last month 53 Senators voted for a temporary-visa program to address labor demands in the agriculture industry. And while that was fewer than the 60 votes needed to add the measure to an Iraq spending bill, it does indicate a recognition by a majority of Senators that enforcement-only approaches to illegal immigration won't work.
While the measure was somewhat more narrow than I would hope for, it was encouraging that it included a component that would give illegal immigrants, whom could pass a background check, temporary status and the ability to earn a green card. That this received the support of a majority of Senators is clearly a positive sign.
I especially liked the end of the editorial which concluded:
So long as the U.S. shares a 2,000-mile border with a developing nation, we'll never reduce the illegal flow with punitive measures that ignore the market forces luring foreign workers here in the first place. The best way to decrease the number of illegal crossings, while also satisfying our economic needs, is to give immigrants more legal ways to come. Under the World War II-era bracero program, which allowed Mexican workers entry to meet the labor demands of American growers, illegal border crossings fell.
The U.S. border-enforcement budget has quintupled since 1993 -- one of the highest growth rates in the federal government after defense spending. Yet the illegal immigrant population in the U.S. has continued to increase. Readers may remember the days when conservatives criticized liberals for throwing money at policies that aren't working.
With its majority Senate support, the AgJobs bill is a sign that Mr. Bush's guest-worker idea isn't as dead as advertised by the anti-immigration right. It deserves to be considered as a stand-alone measure, and the sooner the better. Everyone complains about the lack of bipartisanship in Washington. But here's a case where business and labor have joined with Democrats and Republicans to address what all agree is a problem. So why not get it done?
As you have probably noticed Social Security reform and immigration reform are the two political issues I tend to focus on in my posts. While Social Security reform seems to get a good deal more attention from me, it's only because it's currently in the news 24-7.
If I had a choice (which I don’t) I’d make immigration reform the first priority of Congress. A well written bill, that simply reflected the ideals this country was founded on, could both instantly and dramatically improve the lives of millions of people. How often does legislation have that kind of effect? Not very often.
I’ll echo the Journal in a plea to Congress: please, get it done.
Posted by Peter Mork at May 5, 2005 9:39 AM
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