Immigration if, then

The phones are "ringin' off the hook today in DC" according to Sean Hannity, all because of the illegal immigration bill. Seems we conservatives have blown a collective fuse, not entirely unpredictable as noted by Kathryn Jean Lopez, who also provided a lot of information on the long and colorful history of amnesty in America. Nobody should forget that it was Reagan who started this amnesty ball rolling in 1986.

But let's not get carried away with thinking Congress is showing some kind of bi-partisan unity here. Illegal immigration is truly the most politically calculated issue in the history of issues.

My position has been pretty close to this bill in principle, ie, return to origin, mandate penalties (fines), offer those who want to work but not immigrate a special Visa so we can track everyone. We do need the labor (ask almost any small businessperson about work ethics and such) but we need to enforce the law just as much.

Since even voting Senators haven't read the entire bill there's no way I know enough to do more than speculate wildly here, so I'll just pose a few questions...

• When will these people be eligible to vote? Will they be "US Persons" or some other definition?
• Which agency will keep track of which illegal heads of household don't go back on time? If this information is known why not just deport them?
• Since there's an 8 year window to return it's quite possible NOBODY will do anything until they see who wins the Presidency and Congress in 08. If a Democrat wins, nothing will happen because when the government agencies try to crack down they'll push through a last-minute amnesty bill and everyone knows it. OK, that wasn't entirely a question.
• In 8 years there will be millions more here. What if they refuse to obey the law and hold marches? The Democrats dig civil disobedience.
• Will the business people who've hired illegals be liable for past crimes or are they part of the amnesty?

Or here's an idea--punt this bill down the line while completing the border fence. Let the new 2008 Congress take this up again with a new President, since that would force the issue onto the campaign trail right alongside Iraq where it belongs--and the last place they want it. The bottom line is that any time Teddy Kennedy says we need to strike while the iron is hot everyone should back up immediately.