National Review has excellent advice in response to reports that Speaker Boehner is intent on pushing comprehensive immigration reform through the House in coming weeks — in a word, don’t .
The analysis of the NR editors is solid. Our summary of what is a very succinct article already includes: Tactically, why change the subject from Obamacare . . . why split the Republican Party now over internally controversial matter . Further, because Obama can’t be trusted, the legislation must have teeth to prevent manipulations, and the Senate as constituted now will not pass anything that Obama cannot manipulate to their partisan liking. So why pursue anything “comprehensive” with the trust factor for government so low in the populace? And as it is , doing nothing is the most populist thing to do . . . a position that Republicans do not often find themselves in. As the NR editors point out:
It is not as though the public is clamoring for an immigration bill. Only 3 percent cited immigration as the biggest problem facing the country in a Gallup poll earlier this month .
. . . The leadership is also likely to sign on to increased levels of legal immigration. In this it reflects the obsession of the business establishment, for which the answer to the dire employment crisis among low-skilled workers is always to import more low-skilled workers. We salute Senator Jeff Sessions for blowing the whistle on this folly and relentlessly making the pro-worker case against ever-higher levels of immigration.
And just today we have another report from National Review informing us that the union representing Immigration & Customs Enforcement personnel (ICE), a division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a statement critical of the Obama Administration and calling for legislative leaders to talk to them before doing anything. Union support and cover to buck the Obamacrats . . . how often to Republicans get that?
We are pleading with House Republicans to stand up to the Obama Administration’s abuses and to support ICE officers. I am therefore alarmed to read that House Republicans are working with prominent amnesty proponents instead of reaching out and working with ICE officers. Any immigration principles crafted by House Republicans should be crafted in consultation with the ICE personnel who know firsthand what is wrong with our immigration system and how to fix it. House Republicans must work with ICE officers, and investigate the abuses and misconduct at DHS, before moving any legalization bill – otherwise, they are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.
So by solid political analysis there is nothing to be gained for Republican leadership to pursue comprehensive immigration reform. So don’t.
