Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - It's time for solution on immigration issue
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - It's time for solution on immigration issue
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
May 1, 2007
Somewhere between the demands of the participants at today's immigration march -- unconditional amnesty for all illegal immigrants -- and the punitive House bill that spurred last year's round of protests is a reasonable middle ground. President Bush and the Senate tried to find it last year, only to be stymied by the House's Republican hard-liners. But Democrats are running the House and Senate now, and if today's rally serves any useful function, it will be to prod Congress to get moving and address the issue.
Bush used two speeches over the weekend to make the same point. "I know convictions run deep on the matter of immigration," he said during his weekly radio address Saturday. "Yet I am confident we can have a serious, civil and conclusive debate." Later, in a speech to graduates at Miami Dade College, he said, "Maintaining the promise of America requires that we remain an open and welcoming society. Our nation faces a vital challenge: to build an immigration system that upholds these ideals and meets America's needs in the 21st century."
Bush has backed an approach that we have long viewed as reasonable and pragmatic. In general, he would allow the estimated 12 million illegal aliens to remain here if they meet such conditions as paying fines and taxes and learning English. He would also create a guest worker program that would admit needed foreign workers and eventually allow them to apply for citizenship. And he favored tougher measures to control the border and enforce immigration laws.
The Senate last year passed a bill that followed Bush's approach. The House agreed to tougher enforcement and border security, but it refused to go along with other changes because Republicans could not stomach offering a path to citizenship to people who broke the law to cross our borders. That view is understandable, to a point. Where it breaks down is in a reality check: Those people are already here, and since we can't deport them without overwhelming our court system, we must do something else.
Democrats are generally more sympathetic to immigrants, and their House and Senate leaders have supported the more pragmatic legislation. But they don't want to pass anything unless a significant number of Republicans join them on the politically volatile issue. That's where the president needs to deliver. There are reasons for optimism. The Senate already has shown that reasonable reforms can win bipartisan support. And polls show Americans support a path to legalization -- as well as tougher enforcement and border security. Washington just needs to get cracking and get it done.
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
May 1, 2007
Somewhere between the demands of the participants at today's immigration march -- unconditional amnesty for all illegal immigrants -- and the punitive House bill that spurred last year's round of protests is a reasonable middle ground. President Bush and the Senate tried to find it last year, only to be stymied by the House's Republican hard-liners. But Democrats are running the House and Senate now, and if today's rally serves any useful function, it will be to prod Congress to get moving and address the issue.
Bush used two speeches over the weekend to make the same point. "I know convictions run deep on the matter of immigration," he said during his weekly radio address Saturday. "Yet I am confident we can have a serious, civil and conclusive debate." Later, in a speech to graduates at Miami Dade College, he said, "Maintaining the promise of America requires that we remain an open and welcoming society. Our nation faces a vital challenge: to build an immigration system that upholds these ideals and meets America's needs in the 21st century."
Bush has backed an approach that we have long viewed as reasonable and pragmatic. In general, he would allow the estimated 12 million illegal aliens to remain here if they meet such conditions as paying fines and taxes and learning English. He would also create a guest worker program that would admit needed foreign workers and eventually allow them to apply for citizenship. And he favored tougher measures to control the border and enforce immigration laws.
The Senate last year passed a bill that followed Bush's approach. The House agreed to tougher enforcement and border security, but it refused to go along with other changes because Republicans could not stomach offering a path to citizenship to people who broke the law to cross our borders. That view is understandable, to a point. Where it breaks down is in a reality check: Those people are already here, and since we can't deport them without overwhelming our court system, we must do something else.
Democrats are generally more sympathetic to immigrants, and their House and Senate leaders have supported the more pragmatic legislation. But they don't want to pass anything unless a significant number of Republicans join them on the politically volatile issue. That's where the president needs to deliver. There are reasons for optimism. The Senate already has shown that reasonable reforms can win bipartisan support. And polls show Americans support a path to legalization -- as well as tougher enforcement and border security. Washington just needs to get cracking and get it done.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 7:46 AM
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