Democrats Have a Real Opening on Immigration

By Froma Harrop, RealClearPolitics

March 2, 2006

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-3_1_06_FH.html

...Bush believes that cheap labor is the birthright of every American employer, and so has refused to enforce the law against hiring undocumented workers. In all of 2004, the federal government fined only three companies for employing illegal aliens.

...Democrats now have an opportunity to show that they can govern where Republicans have failed. Some have already begun.

In Arizona, Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano is pushing for a state law that would slap heavy fines on companies that employ illegal immigrants. And from New York, Sen. Hillary Clinton is demanding serious enforcement of employer penalties. "I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigration," she said in a now-famous radio interview....

Many Democrats are tempted to sit back and let the Republicans tear themselves apart over the issue. Some may assume that a swelling population of poor workers is good for their voter rolls. But as defenders of working people, they have a duty to maintain fair labor markets. And by helping restore order at the border, Democrats can also ease concerns that they are weak on national security....

Democrats have an advantage in that they are not wholly owned by corporate America. That gives them more freedom to do the only thing that can fix the problem: apply the employer sanctions....

Once law and order is established, Americans can draw up a sensible immigration policy....

The point is, any expansion of the numbers would occur after, and only after, genuine enforcement of the laws had commenced....

The Democratic Party can take its lead from Arizona's Napolitano. First, it must resist voices on the left that refuse to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants. (These "liberals" should really stop collaborating with cheap-labor conservatives.) Then, Democrats can craft an immigration agenda that respects American workers, foreigners, businesses and the law. The public will be sure to notice.

Read the complete article.