Bush immigration plan not realistic
Article Last Updated:04/03/2007 06:53:04 AM PDT

THE Bush administration is resting its hopes of making a dent in the nation's domestic agenda largely on overhauling immigration policy. Yet the White House is doing too little to craft a plan that can attract bipartisan support and reshape the nation's unrealistic rules on immigration. Rather than nudge Republicans toward such a strategy, the administration seems intent on placating party hard-liners.
A week after sensible, bipartisan legislation to reform immigration policy was introduced in the House, the administration circulated a collection of talking points. The document is a step backward — not only from legislation passed by the Senate last year but also from the general proposition that genuine reform must be workable. The document offers a template for punishing immigrants with repeated fines even after they secure legal status.

In addition to toughening enforcement and beefing up the border, President Bush has spoken reasonably of providing an eventual path to citizenship for 12 million undocumented immigrants already in the country. But the White House, declaring breezily that most illegal aliens "will eventually all be processed through the system," provides no real avenue for that to happen. Rather, the administration would require that an undocumented immigrant pay $3,500 in fines and fees every three years to remain here, plus an $8,000 fine if and when his or her application for legal permanent residence was accepted — which might be never. In the meantime, immigrants who had legalized status would not have the right to sponsor their relatives to join them. That would diminish the chances immigrants already here could assimilate, establish communities and unify their families. It is a blueprint for problems.

Nor would future immigrants, on whose labor the nation's economy depends, be treated realistically. Although it is estimated that 400,000 immigrant workers will be needed annually to satisfy demand in the labor market, the White House plan would insist that these "temporary workers" leave every two years and remain out of the country for six months, for a maximum of six years' work here. That invites rule-breaking, by workers and by employers, who need a reliable, experienced work force.

The White House plan is a political document, not a workable program destined for success. It seems more intent on punishing illegal immigrants than forging a framework to deal with them forthrightly. It may appease some immigration hawks, but it will not address a problem that Americans overwhelmingly say they want fixed.

Washington Post

Editorial

http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/oped/ci_5582124