Chicago Sun-Times, 6/11/2013
Let’s be clear: The immigration reform bill on the table is the product of hard compromise, and compromise by definition leaves nobody fully satisfied. But this bill, worked out by four Republican senators and four Democratic senators — the “Gang of Eight” — includes strong measures to secure the nation’s borders from future illegal immigration and creates a cautious 13-year path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants who arrived here illegally before 2012.
Much of the criticism of the bill at this point, especially on the matter of border security, comes from senators who say they want to improve the bill but really want to kill it. No amount of border policing will ever satisfy them. No path to citizenship will ever impose high enough hurdles. And so the question becomes: Who runs the Republican Party? Reasonable people who understand that our nation’s dysfunctional immigration policies are both bad for America and inhumane? Or conservative activists allergic to compromise?
