Bush's Immigration Defeatism By Rich Lowry

Not all incremental progress is equal in the eyes of President Bush. When it occurs in Iraq, it is a sign that we need to forge ahead despite all difficulties. When it occurs on our southern border, it is deemed insufficient and a sign that — to use a favorite GOP phrase — we need to settle on a “surrender date” on immigration enforcement.

That date would be whenever Bush’s latest “comprehensive” reform proposal kicked in. He wants to legalize illegal immigrants already here and invite in “temporary” guest workers. When Congress finishes with it, this probably will be another proposal to solve the illegal-immigrant problem by making all immigrants past and future legal. This is the immigration-enforcement version of “declare victory and go home.”

And Bush wants to do it just as increased enforcement — like “the surge” in Baghdad — is showing tentative signs of progress. Apprehensions of illegals are down across the border, an indication that fewer of them are coming. Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies notes that the foreign-born population grew by only 500,000 last year, significantly off the annual pace of growth since 2000.

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