An Immigration Bill Emerges


An immigration bill has emerged from the Senate. It has bi-partisan support and likely will get the support of the President. It's a compromise, which means that no one is really happy with it, but there's enough there to get the needed votes. It will draw fire from anti-immigrant groups on the right and it won't make labor groups on the left happy. But it does more than build fences, it gives those who are here a way of becoming citizens. It's not amnesty and it won't be necessarily cheap, but it is something that must be done.

The front page article of the LA Times written by Nicole Gaouette is headlined: "Senators craft immigration compromise." In the article the author writes:


The senators and Cabinet secretaries who negotiated the measure stressed that it needed to pass soon, before election politics made it impossible to tackle the controversial issue.

"This is the last, best chance we'll have as a Congress," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) at negotiators' Capitol news conference. "If this somehow collapsed, it would be years before you could re-create this."


And there is much truth to this. Do it now or it won't be way out in the future before it can be revisited. In many ways this is the kind of bill that a lame duck President can get a hold of. It might enhance a tarnished reputation and has the potential to do a lot of good. He doesn't have to face the voters, so he can take the lead on something controversial. And, considering he represents a party that contains much of the anti-immigrant constituency, he can do something bold.


With a majority in congress, led by people such as Ted Kennedy, John McCain, and Lindsay Graham, together with the president, this should be a go. There are issues to be resolved, but the time is now!

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