Tamar Jacoby shows possible fence folly

One of the major problems with the recent border fence bill is that supporters of "comprehensive" reform will hide behind the fence in order to push through their "reform". They'll say something like, "now that you've got your fence, give us our amnesty".

Or, for instance, they'll say something like, "Real immigration reform will vault over border fence". Oddly enough, that also just happens to be the title of Tamar Jacoby's latest screed:

...No wonder many people concluded that the immigration hard-liners in the House, where the fence bill originated, had won the debate.

But they're wrong. For most members of Congress, this was little more than an election-year charade. The truth is, one mug-for-the-camera vote will not reverse the progress made in the past two years toward comprehensive immigration reform, which is still the only way to solve the problem.

By now, the two competing visions are clear to everyone: simply cracking down harder with fencing and other measures, or combining more effective enforcement with more realistic laws - laws that recognize our labor needs, current and future, and offer some long-term path to legal citizenship for the illegal immigrants already here.

Lopsided fence votes in the House and Senate belie growing support for that broader vision. It's not just that the President and many senators support balanced reform. Poll after poll shows that between two-thirds and three-quarters of the public believes that the best answer combines tougher enforcement with earned citizenship for the illegal immigrants already here. The 20% to 25% who feel differently have an outsized influence in this midterm election year. But even if that tail can wag the dog for now, it can't prevent the majority from expressing its will eventually...

Does she actually believe that those biased polls reflect what the American public wants, or is she just trying to make everyone else believe it?

It would be easy to put what she says in the same camp as those who tried to fabricate a backlash over the failure to pass "reform" (includes a Jacoby quote), but as another quote from her at that link says, "There are some very powerful players who still want ['comprehensive' 'reform'] to happen."

Immigration · Mon, 10/02/2006 - 01:13 · Importance: 1