First, I believe that it’s time for clarity. I do not believe in amnesty. Yet as a person with actual experience in the past in rounding up illegals and trying to enforce current immigration law the fact is that the current proposed bill – which by the way no one has read in full – may be the best shot we have at reform.

Fred Barnes:

“In 2006, with Republicans in control of the Senate, an immigration bill that was anathema to most Republicans passed the Senate by a filibuster-proof margin. Now, oddly enough, with Democrats in charge, the Senate is likely to approve an immigration bill–call it Kyl-Kennedy–that from a Republican perspective represents a major improvement over the earlier bill in almost every conceivable way.

We have three people to thank for this. The first is Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who in January set in motion the process that led to the bipartisan compromise on immigration reached last week. The second is Arizona Republican senator Jon Kyl, who strongly opposed last year’s bill but basically wrote this year’s. The third is Democratic senator Ted Kennedy, who wanted a bill rather than an immigration club with which to bash President Bush and Republicans, and was willing to make concessions to get one.

Assuming the measure passes in Congress–a dicey assumption at this point–it should save Republicans from further erosion of support among Hispanics. This is crucial to Republican prospects for holding the White House in 2008 and recapturing Congress. The legislation will also give congressional Democrats a legislative achievement to tout. And it may give Bush, long an advocate of immigration reform, a political boost and jack up his approval rating.

But don’t be confused about whose bill this is: It’s not the White House’s. Soon after he became Republican leader, McConnell summoned the Republican senators most involved in the immigration debate. His first question was whether they wanted
to enact a bill in 2007. They did.

After a few preliminary meetings, the senators asked if the White House wanted to be actively engaged in negotiations to fashion new legislation. The answer was yes. So two cabinet members, Michael Chertoff of Homeland Security and Carlos Gutierrez of Commerce, joined the sessions. And Chertoff became an especially important player.”

The long and short of it as it appears now, and by the way most people are reacting out of ignorance as the bill hasn’t even been debated on or finalized so we have only a general idea of what it will contain. But here are some key points Barnes makes:

“Restrictionists agree with Kyl on border security. What they fail to understand is that a bill merely beefing up security cannot pass either a Democratic or a Republican Congress. Restrictionists actually get the kind of border buildup they want in the Kyl-Kennedy bill. Their objection is to what comes with it: the immediate “work authorization” allowing the 12 million to be legally employed, visas permitting them to remain indefinitely, and a path to citizenship.”

This is where most of the anger of course is pointed – amnesty. Those who want borders secured and then mass deportation have received one of their points, but will have to understand the other is impossible. As much as I agree that if you are hear without authorization you go home, I’m telling you, it’s not possible from a law enforcement perspective. Ask any police officer, trooper, or FBI agent you want, “Ain’t happening”, at least not in the way the current laws exist. Even Michelle Malkin agrees that the current enforcement matrix is FUBAR.

So then the question, “What to do?” First, of course the border issue needs I believed to be nailed down – literally. However, this is going to take years to implement. Why is that? Do you live where they’re building highways? How long has that been going on? Nuff said. It’s a bitch, but it’s reality folks.

But as convoluted as it is, it’s the easy part. The hard part and sticking point has always been what to do about the 12 million who are already here embedded in the populace? Again, mass deportation isn’t happening. So what are YOU going to do? Without the deportation the only option is to make it worthwhile for them to first find out where they are, then make it easy for them to come forward and get either legal or get out. That’s what we’ll know in the finalized bill when it comes out.

Yet again, the current problem is with enforcement of existing laws which are so convoluted and wrought with loopholes that as I said before most law enforcement has enacted a “hands off” approach. The problem isn’t law enforcement, it’s having clear and precise laws to enforce.

Again, this is a more than fourty year old problem and you aren’t going to fix it in one bill or two. That’s why I’ve said from the beginning that the two sides of the question (border security/deportation) and (leave ‘em alone and let ‘em work) will not have their way completely. Some sort of middle ground has to be reached.

Once again, I don’t like what I see in the current bill, but then I – like everone else – haven’t seen the entire package. On Monday the debate begins and more and more details will be coming out.