Fred Thompson releases good-sounding immigration plan (attrition)

Fred Thompson - someone who I don't entirely trust and who in fact doesn't appear to be exactly energetic - has released an immigration plan that actually sounds acceptable (link). First he says he's against amnesty, but aren't they all. But, the surprising bit is that he appears to actually mean it:

Attrition through Enforcement. Reduce the number of illegal aliens through increased enforcement against unauthorized alien workers and their employers. Without illegal employment opportunities available, fewer illegal aliens will attempt to enter the country, and many of those illegally in the country now likely will return home. Self-deportation can also be maximized by stepping up the enforcement levels of other existing immigration laws. This course of action offers a reasonable alternative to the false choices currently proposed to deal with the 12 million or more aliens already in the U.S. illegally: either arrest and deport them all, or give them all amnesty.

Whether he actually means that is another matter. At the least, he's put something more detailed than Mitt Romney out there, and unlike Rudy Giuliani he doesn't appear to favor an amnesty. It will be interesting to see whether the GOP and Dem candidates try to change their plans in some way or how they try to attack it.

WAS IT COORDINATED? UPDATE: Both the Democratic National Committee ("DNC", link) and Rudy Giuliani (link) have taken remarkably similar swipes at Thompson's plan. Neither discuss anything about the plan itself, only pointing out his spotty Senate record.

Immigration2007b · Tue, 10/23/2007 - 08:56 · · Importance: 1