Republicans Punt on Immigration: Does the Public Really Care?
It appears the Congressional GOP has sounded the death knell for immigration reform legislation until after the elections.
It is a good thing that the current package of immigration reform has died. Amnesty would be one thing but the current package is far more than just amnesty. In addition to amnesty they get two years off taxes, job rights far surpassing that available to US citizens, and civil rights protections far beyond what is available to our own homegrown minorities. It legalizes their status and throws money at the community simply to buy their votes.
While no one seriously contends that the United States should have no effective border or that any regulation of immigration is inherently unjust, few seem to have developed the intestinal fortitude to specify a policy that makes sense. Part of the reason there are so many problems in the illegal immigrant community is the lack of enforcement of the law.
Employers can extract more from employees by holding the sword of calling immigration over their employee’s heads. That community is subject to the manipulation and abuse of coyotes (immigrant runners), landlords, and employers because they have no recourse to the government. When the law goes enforced you get lawlessness. It is clear that not enforcing the law hasn’t worked; the idea that removing the law altogether will help is patently absurd.
When the governments of the US and Mexico both telegraph that immigration law won’t be enforce (at least not the parts about sneaking across the border), is it any wonder people come over the border? This is a problem of our government’s own making (blaming the immigrants is rather simple-minded here) who don’t enforce the law and then grant ridiculous concessions like bilingual services, welfare, and the use of non-US identification. It as if the US government wants to multiply the number of walls between the immigrant community and the general population. In effect, it only increases the amount of tension, manipulation, and anger in the illegal immigrant community.
The Republicans know that they have gotten themselves in a tough spot. The Democrats have stayed largely silent on the issue because there is no reason to get involved in letting the Republicans pick which set of people they burn with their policy. The Republicans decided to hold off until after the elections as a result.
This means that the public, based on their actions during the midterm elections, get to decide the policy. If a strong anti-amnesty, pro-enforcement message gets communicated, likely the Republicans will adopt that. If apathy on the issue is apparent, then the Republicans will likely pander to gain new voters.
So while the Republicans are backing off in apparent cowardice to handle an issue largely caused by governmental actions, it gives the chance for the public to pick the policy. The question is, how much do the people really care? We’ll find out in November.
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