Public not interested in immigration 'reform'

Byron York:

Just a few weeks ago, a State of the Union call for immigration reform would have seemed an exercise in futility. But now, President Obama, who Tuesday night will urge the House to pass new legislation, might have at least an outside chance of getting what he wants.

Immigration reform is back. Left for dead countless times in recent months, the effort to overhaul the nation's immigration system -- and deal with the estimated 12 million immigrants now in the country illegally -- is again on the priority list for Speaker John Boehner and House GOP lawmakers.

But there's a problem, and it's the same problem that always snags immigration talks: How to structure a system that will both beef up the nation's border security and legalize those here illegally.

Many Republicans who might be open to some sort of reform will not accept legalization until security measures are not only passed but in place and working. Many Democrats will not accept anything less than immediate legalization. They will accept heightened security measures, but not as a condition for legalization.

It's a seemingly intractable dilemma that some House Republicans believe they can resolve with a series of provisions to enact security measures at essentially the same time as legalization, with requirements that specific security benchmarks be met at agreed-upon intervals after passage. "We're looking for a happy medium where they both [security and legalization] have to move along together in a way for both sides to get what they want," said a House GOP aide closely involved in the issue.

Pro-legalization Republicans talk of devising a schedule in which illegal immigrants would be required to come forward and register, and perhaps accept some sort of probation, as the first step of the legalization process. At the same time, new security measures would be undertaken. But that is effectively instant legalization — precisely what many Republicans will not accept. Asked what would happen if the GOP demanded that legalization be in place before anything else, the aide's reply was short and simple: "I don't think you can do that."
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The problem with the proposal is they cannot count on Obama to faithfully execute the new provisions on border security, since he is clearly not faithfully executing the current law.  He is a lawless President when it comes to immigration.  With a waive of his hand he exempts hundreds of thousands from enforcement.   He has DHS actually helping children of illegals caught at the border reunite with their families.  There is little he will not do to thwart the enforcement of the law, because he sees all those illegals as future Democrat voters and not someone here in violation of the immigration laws.  It is a real mistake for Republicans to think he can be trusted with a new immigration law.  If they are going to do immigration reform they whould wait until we have a President who will enforce the law.