San Diego Union Tribune: Immigration bill is a muddled work

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UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL

Competing goals

Immigration bill is a muddled work

July 27, 2005

You can have the most thoughtful piece of legislation, in pursuit of the noblest of causes, and if it is not realistic, practical or workable, then it's not worth the paper it's printed on.

That's the real-world dilemma facing the Comprehensive Enforcement and Immigration Reform Act of 2005, which is neither comprehensive nor stands to make much of a difference in terms of enforcement.

Sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the bill isn't comprehensive because it is based on the farcical assumption that illegal immigrants will voluntarily come out of the shadows to work for two years as "guest workers," after which they'll be deported.

(snip)

You can't blame the senators. They did the best they could on a couple of illogical balancing acts. They wanted guest workers, but they didn't want them to stick out and have a path to legalization. They wanted to be tough on illegal immigrants, but not on the people who hire them.

This is what they ended up with. And it's not worth the paper it's printed on.


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