Thompson taps into Congress's lack of credibility on border security

Washington Times:

Former Sen. Fred Thompson yesterday said there is a giant disconnect between voters and politicians in Washington and that the immigration bill is the chief reason.
Speaking to Virginia Republicans, Mr. Thompson, who is considering a run for president, drew a standing ovation when he said voters don't believe Washington politicians when they claim they are trying to secure the border as part of the bill.
"You've got to secure the border first, before you do anything," he said. "The members say it's right here in this bill: the border. The response is, 'We don't care what's on a piece of paper -- secure the border.' This piece of paper doesn't secure the border."
Mr. Thompson said the new bill is "the same deal" offered in the 1986 amnesty -- legalization of illegal aliens in exchange for border security -- but said Americans won't be fooled again. He also said the program is unworkable because it relies on an already overworked immigration service to process millions of new applications.
Immigration is a sharp dividing line among Republicans and their presidential candidates. Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, is a key backer of the immigration bill and is highlighting it as part of his campaign, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is opposing the bill and running ads arguing for border security.
The former U.S. senator from Tennessee was greeted with a minute-long standing ovation by the 400 Republicans at a dinner that raised $110,000 for the state Republican Party.
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He has noticed the strongest reason for opposition to the new immigration bill. The opposition will be there whether Congress approves the bill or not, because of the bipartisan failure to enforce existing immigration laws. While the bill tries to address these concerns with a "trigger" the trigger apparently only effects the path to citizenship and does not effect the immediate legalization of those here illegally.

It should be noted that after 9-11, one of the most effective tools we had for rounding up suspects was their illegal immigration status. This bill will effectively take that tool away.