Immigration procrastination

Saturday, August 27, 2011


The Department of Homeland Security calls it "prosecutorial discretion." Assorted Republicans call it "back-door amnesty." But regardless of what you call the policy shift by the Obama administration, it spotlights the persisting failure of Congress to take on the overdue task of comprehensive immigration reform.

Washington's failure to lead on this issue has produced a bewildering array of new state immigration laws over the past few years. Now the White House has added not only to the issue's confusion but to its acrimony by ordering the Homeland Security and Justice departments to "review" (translation: delay) roughly 300,000 deportation cases against alleged illegal immigrants.

The change is being pitched as a way to advance "smart, effective immigration enforcement" against violent criminals and those who endanger national security. It's being persuasively slammed as an attempt by President Barack Obama to regain some of the support he's lost among Hispanic voters -- a crucial component of the Democratic base (see Debra Saunders' column on today's Commentary page).

But many immigration hard-liners have political motives of their own. And some state laws designed to get tough on illegal immigration have seriously hampered construction and farming.

For instance, Wednesday's Wall Street Journal reported on rising concerns about the Alabama immigration law passed in June: "Representatives of agribusiness, the state's biggest industry, and sectors such as construction, which is charged with rebuilding the tornado-hit city of Tuscaloosa, are reporting worker shortages because of immigrants already fleeing the state. The state agriculture commission says squash, tomatoes and other produce are rotting in the fields."

Presumably South Carolina's new immigration law, signed two months ago by Gov. Nikki Haley, won't produce such dire economic consequences. It does require police to check the immigration status of anybody they stop for another purpose if there is a "reasonable" basis to suspect they are in the country illegally. The S.C. law also fairly requires businesses, through an "E-verify" system, to confirm their workers' legal status.

Like the immigration laws in some other states, ours is already facing a legal challenge. However, it was Washington's neglect on this matter that prompted such state laws.

And while it's still too easy for illegal immigrants to cross the 2,000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico, it's far easier for them to cross the borders between states.

Ultimately, effective immigration reform must include stricter enforcement -- and practical regulations for the use of "guest workers" where they are needed.


And clearly, illegal immigration is a federal problem that demands a federal solution

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011 ... stination/