Thread: A sorry sight on immigration

Editorial, 7/5: A sorry sight on immigration

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July 04, 2013 11:59 pm • By the Journal Star editorial board
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Journal Star editorial board

Julie Bechtel, publisher
Dave Bundy, editor
Gordon Winters, opinion page editor
Ava Thomas, general manager
Brady Svendgard, operations manager
L. Kent Wolgamott, entertainment writer
Zach Pluhacek, assistant online news editor


Informed, common-sense Nebraskans can do little but roll their eyes at the unproductive role played by Nebraska's two senators when the upper chamber approved a bipartisan immigration bill.

Sens. Mike Johanns and Deb Fischer dug in their heels and refused to budge toward meaningful change.

In contrast to more thoughtful Republicans ranging from former President George W. Bush to GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, Nebraska's senators refused to look past the overhyped issue of border security

Johanns' soundbite justifying his opposition was that the “promise of secure borders is not airtight.” Fischer echoed the same line, prompting a frustrated McCain to sharply criticize Fischer on the floor as “so ill-informed I don't know where to begin.”
The bill would have more than doubled the number of border security officers and doubled the length of pedestrian fencing.
As McCain told CNN, “I mean this is not only sufficient, it is well over-sufficient. We'll be the most militarized border since the fall of the Berlin Wall.”

In case it has slipped anyone's mind, McCain represents a state that actually borders Mexico.

Attitudes like those displayed by Fischer and Johanns may have guaranteed that America's immigration system will remain broken for at least a few more years and perhaps longer

Immigration reform probably needed to come out of the Senate with a full head of steam in order for reform to make progress in the House.

Instead of using the Senate bill, the House plans to write its own bill, Speaker John Boehner said. It almost certainly will not include a path to citizenship, which means it will be unacceptable to the Senate.

The senators seem to think they have the pulse of a majority of Nebraskans on immigration policy, and, to be fair, perhaps they do.

However, elected officials and voters who are fixated on border security and refuse to consider other arguments, like the one put forth by Nebraska’s GOP committeeman John Kramer that “the way to fix the problem of illegal immigration is to fix the problem of legal immigration,” simply guarantee that nothing will be done, perhaps for years.

Everyone knows that America's immigration system is broken. The legal pathways are clogged with red tape. Millions of illegal immigrants lead a shadow existence. The status quo is a disaster.

Congressional dysfunction on immigration may be no worse than it is on any number of issues, but it is still a sad spectacle to contemplate.

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