Bush's Immigration Challenge

The immigration issue offers President Bush a chance to leave behind a significant legacy other than the war in Iraq. But unless he can execute a turnaround in both his political fortunes and his political strategy, his leverage on Capitol Hill is almost nonexistent.

It's not just that he's an unpopular lame duck, although that's part of it. Almost every success Bush has had as president, he owes to polarization. It's not clear that he has the political dexterity to lead from the middle. Nor is it clear the middle has any desire to follow him.

On immigration, Bush's few die-hard supporters aren't going to back him up. The hard-right, law-and-order fans who give him what little support he still has in Congress and in the polls are also the people most opposed to the sort of bipartisan compromise that Bush favors on immigration. (They call it "amnesty.")

Then again, it's never wise to entirely dismiss the president's power to effect public discourse. Bush's microphone on Iraq may be dead, a victim of his loss of credibility, but on other issues his voice can still be powerful -- particularly if it resonates with public sentiment.

The immigration debate has thus far been dominated by blowhards who promote a fear- and hate-driven faux populist agenda against illegals. So by simply talking about the problem in sympathetic and pragmatic ways, the president may succeed in contributing to the passage of legislation that would give him something other than Iraq to be remembered for.

The Coverage

Here is the text of Bush's remarks yesterday afternoon: "Immigration is a tough issue for a lot of Americans. The agreement reached today is one that will help enforce our borders, but equally importantly, it will treat people with respect. This is a bill where people who live here in our country will be treated without amnesty, but without animosity."

Jonathan Weisman writes in The Washington Post: "The Bush administration and a bipartisan group of senators reached agreement yesterday on a sprawling overhaul of the nation's immigration laws that would bring an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants out of society's shadows while stiffening border protections and cracking down on employers of undocumented workers.

"The delicate compromise, 380 pages long and three months in the making, represents perhaps the last opportunity for President Bush to win a major legislative accomplishment for his second term, and it could become the most significant revision of the nation's immigration system in 41 years. Bush hailed the agreement . . .

"But the compromises needed to win the support of a liberal lion such as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and a conservative illegal-immigration foe such as Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) have made the bill extremely complex and have opened it to attacks from all sides.

"Democratic leaders were leery of three pivotal concessions to the conservatives. The first would make illegal immigrants' access to long-term visas and the new guest-worker program contingent upon the implementation of the border crackdown. . . .

"Another sticking point came from the proposed replacement of an immigration system primarily designed to reunify families with a point system that would give new emphasis to skills and education. . . .

"Finally, immigrants coming into the country under the temporary work program would have to leave when their permits expire, with no chance to appeal for permanent residence. Labor unions say such a system would depress wages and create an underclass."