The Issue the Democrats Dread

"This is a values issue: How does a superpower not have control over its border? You have to enforce the rule of law as it relates to the border, and you have to enforce the rule of law as it relates to benefits. Then the American people will be open to resolving the issue as it relates to what industry needs and what immigrant advocates need."

But Latino groups are alarmed that even benefits for legal immigrants are in jeopardy. For example, some immigrant children and pregnant women were excluded from help under the recently passed State Children's Health Insurance Program expansion that Bush vetoed.

And the carefully drawn Dream Act, which focused on legalizing the status of high school graduates who are under 30 and were brought into the country as children by their parents, failed to secure enough votes to pass in the Senate. This angered Latino groups that saw no reason to deny legal status to successful men and women who are not responsible for their presence in the United States. Such young people, said Janet Murgu¿a, president and chief executive of the National Council of La Raza, should not be asked to "give up their hopes and dreams."

It's absurd that the Dream Act cannot pass, and it's foolish to shortchange legal immigrants on health-care coverage. Yet at a moment when the electorate is very angry, it's not surprising that some voters are channeling their discontent through the immigration issue. It's happened before in our history.

Democrats have to manage their political problem on immigration to have a chance at solving the problem itself. Hillary Clinton is not alone in facing this dilemma.

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