I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
Over at NRO, I have a piece suggesting that the president's track record suggests that he won't enforce the immigration law any more vigorously after an amnesty than he is now. And that, after all, is the whole point of "comprehensive immigration reform" -- amnesty and increased immigration in exchange for promises of better enforcement in the future.
My question for Ricochetti, especially those who support the president's approach to immigration, is this: Do you really think President Obama would consistently enforce immigration law after an amnesty? I'm not being snarky -- I really would like to know how people reconcile what we know about the president with the promises about enforcement that would be an integral part of any proposed immigration deal.
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May '11
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
I view deals where we get amnesty today for enforcement tomorrow the same way I view deals where we get tax increases today for spending cuts tomorrow -- it can all be summed up in the phrase: "Really, Charlie Brown. I won't pull the football away this time."
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
Didn't the Democrats pull this same stunt on Reagan? I've always hoped a Republican President would use that historical example and push to try the opposite: Closed militarized border and prison for boarder jumping first, and we talk about Amnesty for those here second.
Jun '10
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
You don't even have to be snarky. The question, however, is pretty much rhetorical. We've seen him dismiss obvious voter fraud, yet decry manufactured voter suppression. With both Fast & Furious and Benghazi, the Administration engages in sequential finger-pointing and re-pointing until the public is simply too exhausted trying to follow where the blame rests on any given day.
"Immigration enforcement" will be just another line on this list.
Mar '11
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
Indeed they did, Tommy. This may have been Reagan's biggest mistake in the long run. Never, ever trust these "pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today" deals.
Sep '10
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
1. Set up (and fund!!) a program of one or two years to register all people here illegally. 2. Concurrently, develop terms of amnesty. 3. At end of registration period, require (and fund!!) e-verify nationally.
Sep '10
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
1. Like "self deport", militarization of the border is a fantasy. Will never happen.
2. The notion that the 1986 agreement was enforceable is another fantasy. Imagine the massive bureaucracy that would have been required. But technology has changed that; ie, computers and e-verify.
Oct '11
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
Does the Pope speak Japanese?
Sep '10
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
Mark Krikorian: Over at NRO, I have a piece suggesting that the president's track record suggests that he won't enforce the immigration law any more vigorouslyafter an amnesty than he is now. And that, after all, is the whole point of "comprehensive immigration reform" -- amnesty and increased immigration in exchange for promises of better enforcement in the future.
My question for Ricochetti, especially those who support the president's approach to immigration, is this: Do you really think President Obama would consistently enforce immigration law after an amnesty?
Are there actually people here who support Obama's approach to immigration?
If they suspect the immigrant leans conservative, he will enforce. Selective enforcement is the name of their game. They enforce everything -as long as it is their opponents as perpetrators, that much I've learned.
Nov '11
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
The GOP had its chance at rational immigration reform during Dubya's second term.
In 2000 Dubya won 34% of Hispanic vote. In 2004, he increased that to 44%. But then in 2006, hardliners like Krikorian shot down Dubya's immigration reform. While inflaming opposition to Dubya's reforms, hardliners also stirred and hardened racial animosities. I warned then that if Hispanic vote went the way of black vote, the GOP would transform itself into a permanently irrelevant minority party. After Dubya's 44% in 2004, McCain won only 31%, and Romney got barely 25%.
Having killed Dubya's reforms, hardliners guaranteed conservatives will be eating Obama-flavored dogfood, on immigration, . . . and also on taxes, spending, healthcare, and everything else . . . for a good long while.
This is what life looks like when hardliners like Krikorian "win."
For hardliners like Krikorian, no immigration reform is ever good enough. They always scream bloody murder about "Amnesty!" but the real reason they think no reform is ever good enough is because they think Hispanic immigrants can never assimlate. But it's hardliner politics that preclude reforms that would bring Hispanic immigrants out of the underground economy so they can assimilate (and become conservative).
Edited on January 3, 2013 at 6:47pmAug '10
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
I have never understood why "comprehensive" reform always assumes the amnesty comes before the border enforcement.
Maybe it's because politicians are lazy, and amnesty is easy to implement with a scribble of a pen. They get the big bang of popularity up front, and the complicated, expensive, less popular implementation during some other guy's election.
A clever GOP would co-opt the immigration debate by demanding comprehensive reform... but putting the enforcement years before a limited amnesty. That way the debate would shift from "why do you hate immigrants?" to "why is the timing like this?" Now if only we had a clever opposition party...
Sep '10
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
So you're saying the whole enforcement thing might be an empty promise? But tax hikes now with the promise of spending cuts at a later undisclosed date, that's still a good deal, . . .right?
Oct '12
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
Astonishing: The GOP had its chance at rational immigration reform during Dubya's second term.
. . .
For hardliners like Krikorian, no immigration reform is ever good enough. They always scream bloody murder about "Amnesty!" but the real reason they think no reform isever good enough is because they think Hispanic immigrants cannever assimlate. But it's hardliner politics that preclude reforms that would bring Hispanic immigrants out of the underground economy so theycan assimilate (and become conservative).
Just like clockwork.
Mar '11
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
Astonishing:
They always scream bloody murder about "Amnesty!" but the real reason they think no reform isevergood enough is because they think Hispanic immigrants canneverassimlate.
And there's good reason to believe that this is becoming harder and harder: as Jonah Goldberg put it, the problem is Mexico. Why assimilate when the mother country is right on your border? Italians and Irish eventually assimilated because they had to. It wasn't easy to "go home". Let's be forthright about something. In American immigration terms, "Hispanic" is 8 times out of ten a catchall term for Mexican. Again, as Jonah put it, we don't have an immigrant problem, we have a Mexico problem. Optimistic guys like you think the American Dream will trump their ethnicity. But Mexico... with the blessing of the US government... works hard to keep Mexicans in the US thinking that they're extended family... a kind of colonist, really... and not an immigrant as we think of it. Mexico preaches that the "melting pot" is a betrayal of Mexico, and most Mexican illegals agree. They only consider themselves "American" for certain political situations. Otherwise, the flag of Mexico reigns for them.
Nov '11
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
Douglas
Astonishing:
They always scream bloody murder about "Amnesty!" but the real reason they think no reform is ever good enough is because they think Hispanic immigrants can never assimlate.
And there's good reason to believe that this is becoming harder . . . : . . . the problem is Mexico. Why assimilate when the mother country is right on your border? ...
I recognize assimilation of Mexican immigrants is both more difficult and more discouraged, partly because of the geographical facts, but more because of anti-assimilation policies:
--The left gave us multicultural bilingual ballots, bilingual education, and immigrant welfare that discourage assimilation and encourage dependency .
--The Krikorian right, oblivious to the geographic and economic realities fueling immigration, gave us overly restictive policies that cannot effectively limit immigration in practice but instead only channel and hold millions of migrant workers (and their citizen children) in a permanent economic underground underclass, where they are easy pickings for ObamaChavez-style demagoguery.
Implacable geographic/economic facts fueling Mexican immigration required us to do a better job on the political facts that are changeable. Assimilation is the solution. There's no other solution. Unfortunately, pernicious influences on the left and the right might have already ruined things permanently.
Oct '10
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
Sen. Kyl said that Obama was against border security now because it takes away any incentive to get "comprehensive immigration reform." He thinks that Republicans won't have any interest in it.
http://youtu.be/IpyrlX52TwA
Sep '10
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
What a strange assertion. I've worked with Latinos for 30 years in ABQ and they're as American as Douglas.
Douglas
They only consider themselves "American" for certain political situations. Otherwise, the flag of Mexico reigns for them. · 1 hour ago
May '10
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
Tone matters. As long as realistic people who even muse on or propose sensible and thoughtful solutions to difficult questions- e.g., Gingrich (who was not my candidate but he was unfairly hit on this one) in the last campaign- are vilified for daring to so muse, the Right will tar itself with the brush of racism or visceral nativism.
Linda Chavez has been correct on this issue for years, and the CIS is a disgrace to conservatism where it does not specifically denounce John Tanton and ZPG.
We deserve to lose elections when our reaction to serious policy discussions is the shriek "NO AMNESTY" as our response to everything. Michael Barone points out that the problem is working itself out due to the economy. You can and should put layers of speed bumps at the border first as a condition to any further regularization or guest worker programs, and announce that our policies will be modeled on Mexico's Southern border policy. We can do that without sounding ugly.
The way we say things, and the outsized emphasis applied to the current issue tells a lot, and we do ourselves a great disservice over and over.
Sep '10
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
Even after 9/11 GWB did not secure the border and the rest of the GOP was silent. To continue to pretend the shameful lack of border security is a result of just the Democrats does not seem to me creditable. A sizable portion of the GOP constituency wants the cheap illegal labor and it is clear they have enough clout to get what they want.
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
Astonishing:
Apart from the substance of this (1.1 million legal immigrants a year is hardly "overly restrictive"), I'm just delighted to see that I have a whole wing of conservatism named after me, "The Krikorian right"!
May '10
Re: I'll Gladly Enforce Immigration Law on Tuesday for an Amnesty Today
Mark Krikorian: Astonishing:
Apart from the substance of this (1.1 million legal immigrants a year is hardly "overly restrictive"), I'm just delighted to see that I have a whole wing of conservatism named after me, "The Krikorian right"! · 16 hours ago
Don't forget John Tanton and the rest of the gang. And the 1.1 million per year- at this time- is subject to debate.