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The Obama Administration may have increased resources on the border (as did the Bush Administration before it, also as a fig leaf for amnesty) and even upped deportations. For those, it deserves credit. But when illegal immigrants still pour over the border at a rate usually estimated to be more than a million per year, it’s not time to hoist the 'mission accomplished' banner.
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| Barack Obama, fresh off the biggest triumph of his presidency, was given a rare opportunity by the death of Osama Bin Laden: the chance to be effortlessly presidential, floating above the partisan fray and standing as a totem of unity in a country riven by ideological polarization. That promise expired on Tuesday, when Obama traveled to El Paso, Texas, to deliver what the White House billed as a major speech on immigration reform.
Far from calling on his newfound gravitas, Obama instead resorted to the kind of partisan bomb-throwing that wiser men delegate to their deputies.
Thumbing his nose at his opposition, Obama – arguing for the widespread amnesty of illegal immigrants – said, "We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement ... They said we needed to triple the Border Patrol. Or now they're going to say we need to quadruple the Border Patrol. Or they'll want a higher fence. Maybe they'll need a moat. Maybe they want alligators in the moat. They'll never be satisfied. And I understand that. That's politics."
It was a cute line that generated some laughs from the audience. Unfortunately, it had no bearing on the debate. The Obama Administration may have increased resources on the border (as did the Bush Administration before it, also as a fig leaf for amnesty) and even upped deportations. For those, it deserves credit. But when illegal immigrants still pour over the border at a rate usually estimated to be more than a million per year, it’s not time to hoist the “mission accomplished” banner.
Effort is not the same as outcome. The president is essentially boasting that he’s spending more and still not fixing the problem — the hallmark of his domestic policy.
Meanwhile, those who continue to believe that national borders and the concept of citizenship should actually mean something are languishing. In 2006, Congress passed – and President Bush signed – a bill to build a fence along the U.S. border with Mexico. This legislation was partially inspired by results in places like San Diego, where a physical barrier reduced illegal border crossings by 95 percent. Yet implementation has been glacial and the vast majority of the border remains bereft of any serious physical impediments to invasion. The situation has become so dire that the state of Arizona – unhappy with waiting on an unwilling Washington – recently enacted a law creating a website to solicit private donations for the fence’s completion.
Unfortunately, the substance of the issue is unimportant to Obama. If it was, he wouldn’t be pushing it with a Republican-controlled House of Representatives on the eve of a presidential election cycle – two factors that ensure “comprehensive immigration reform” won’t be passed into law anytime soon. Rather, this is pure politics.
With his reelection bid growing closer, Obama is courting Hispanic voters with an eye towards gaining some breathing room in what promises to be a demographically tight election.
Ironically, the candidate of the party that prides itself on racial sophistication is calculating that he can buy a huge swath of American voters by appealing to a debased instinct for tribalism. It’s too early to say that calculation is incorrect. But it’s not too early to say that it’s wrong.
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