Comprehensive Opportunism

The federal government has, for all intents and purposes, decided not to enforce US immigration law. This position was clarified recently when Homeland Security official John Morton indicated that the government might simply decide not to process illegal immigrants turned over by Arizona law enforcement. The crisis over illegal immigration in America is artificial. States would not be struggling under the burden of illegal immigration if the federal government were living up to its obligations to enforce US immigration law. Unfortunately, enforcing US immigration law is not in the best interests of the open borders proponents in the current administration, but even more unfortunately, the resulting crisis may be.

If the US government were interested in controlling illegal immigration it could do so. It is certainly within the capability of the various agencies of our government to control the border and drastically reduce the number of employers hiring illegal immigrants. These two actions would reduce the influx of illegal aliens and quickly result in the self deportation of a significant number of those currently residing in the United States. It is clear that the goal of the US government is not immigration enforcement. The goal is immigration reform. Solving the current problems with immigration enforcement would decrease the viability of comprehensive immigration reform in the near term.

The immigration calamity in America today is little more than political brinkmanship between the supporters and opponents of comprehensive immigration reform. It may seem that the administration is faced with the conundrum of how to achieve its goals as American citizens increasingly display their frustration with illegal immigration, but that frustration may ultimately work out in the favor of the open borders crowd. President Obama has joined others in conceding that the time is not right to push immigration reform. That concession should not be expected to keep the administration from attempting to seize the high ground if the fervor on both sides of the debate swells into a crisis that can not be ignored. We should not assume that we are safe from a comprehensive immigration reform effort until new representatives are seated after the mid-term elections.

With the recent activities on health care we watched as a crisis was created out of whole cloth. For months the people of the United States made it clear that they did not believe there was a crisis in American health care and that the system did not require fundamental transformation. The politicians moved forward with health care reform, self-justified by the moral high ground provided by a non-existent crisis. Do we expect they will not take the same advantage with a real crisis in immigration? How many of us have any real expectation that even the well meaning politicians in Washington will not make unfortunate compromises on immigration reform if faced with a crisis that demands resolution?

It was necessary for the Arizona legislature to act in the interests of the citizens of that state. It is necessary for American citizens to protest the irresponsible actions of the federal government on immigration. It is necessary for concerned citizens to stand up and support Arizona's actions and speak out against the spiteful boycott effort directed against Arizona. These things are necessary, appropriate and should not be delayed. They are also elements of the crisis and it is unclear which side of the debate will make the most of them.

The two generals at Gettysburg both made a decision that they would put everything they had into that battle. They knew that the armies arrayed against each other would engage in a decisive struggle with consequences that would reach far beyond the fields of Pennsylvania. They were committed to engage and resigned to the outcome of that battle. The struggle surrounding the illegal immigration issue may be the political Gettysburg of our time. The stakes for both sides in this battle are too high to walk away from. Arizona may have fired the first shot, but the struggle is far from over.  We must not take victory for granted or underestimate the foe.