President Bush and the Border

Rich Lowry has written a thought-provoking column about President Bush's attitude toward the southern border and immigration policy.

"Not all incremental progress is equal in the eyes of President Bush. When it occurs in Iraq, it is a sign that we need to forge ahead despite all difficulties. When it occurs on our southern border, it is deemed insufficient and a sign that — to use a favorite GOP phrase — we need to settle on a “surrender date” on immigration enforcement.

"And Bush wants to do it just as increased enforcement — like 'the surge' in Baghdad — is showing tentative signs of progress...

"On the one hand, it touts the success of increased border patrols and occasional workplace raids, because it realizes, politically, that it has to be seen as trying to enforce the laws. On the other hand, it argues that enforcement can’t possibly work, so we have to adopt an amnesty and guest-worker program.

"The rational response to the promising signs from enforcement would be to do more of it, and to avoid undercutting its early success."

As a postscript, I've read a number of letters to the editor in various newspapers in recent weeks about our nation's broken system for legal immigration, which leaves those attempting to follow our laws in limbo for years, at a great financial cost. I'd very much like to see the President and Congress focus on improving our legal immigration system, rather than adding a new amnesty and/or guest worker program to the already unmanageable immigration bureaucracy.