bobbyw24
06-07-2010, 10:05 AM
Amnesty Someday
By W. James Antle, III on 6.7.10 @ 9:54AM
Having just finished a piece on the politics of immigration for the magazine (one of the reasons for my absence from the blog), I turned to Ramesh Ponnuru's immigration article in a recent issue of National Review. Ponnuru writes:
Some thoughtful conservative restrictionists concede that once the illegal-immigrant population is shrunk to a manageable level, some path to legality could be put in place. But even they warn that openly discussing this possibility could act as a magnet. That risk seems small enough to be worth taking - especially if the alternative is a total opposition to amnesty that proves politically self-defeating....
The debate over amnesty has sometimes obscured the more important question of whom, and how many, we should let in. Amnesty is itself important primarily as it bears on that question. Conservatives, like others, have dug-in positions, with a few saying we need to pass a law that includes a path to citizenship at the same time we step up enforcement and many more saying we should not do it at all. The right time for amnesty is in between now and never.
That's not far from my own position. I think that if the illegal immigrant population were reduced to a manageable level, we could and probably should entertain an amnesty for the hard cases that remain. This is the implicit end game for the attrition through enforcement strategy of dealing with illegal immigration. And you'll note that pro-enforcement conservatives generally describe themselves as being for enforcement first.
But when it comes to discussing a possible amnesty openly, I'm not sure I weigh the risks the same. Attrition has to be given a chance to work before amnesty can be discussed -- any perception that amnesty is inevitable will dissuade some irreducible number of illegals from self-deporting, even in the face of stepped up enforcement. The only way that amnesty won't be a magnet is if it seen in the same light as amnesties for draft and tax evaders: it must be viewed as a one-time event in a context where the law is usually enforced.
Read More
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/06/07/amnesty-someday
By W. James Antle, III on 6.7.10 @ 9:54AM
Having just finished a piece on the politics of immigration for the magazine (one of the reasons for my absence from the blog), I turned to Ramesh Ponnuru's immigration article in a recent issue of National Review. Ponnuru writes:
Some thoughtful conservative restrictionists concede that once the illegal-immigrant population is shrunk to a manageable level, some path to legality could be put in place. But even they warn that openly discussing this possibility could act as a magnet. That risk seems small enough to be worth taking - especially if the alternative is a total opposition to amnesty that proves politically self-defeating....
The debate over amnesty has sometimes obscured the more important question of whom, and how many, we should let in. Amnesty is itself important primarily as it bears on that question. Conservatives, like others, have dug-in positions, with a few saying we need to pass a law that includes a path to citizenship at the same time we step up enforcement and many more saying we should not do it at all. The right time for amnesty is in between now and never.
That's not far from my own position. I think that if the illegal immigrant population were reduced to a manageable level, we could and probably should entertain an amnesty for the hard cases that remain. This is the implicit end game for the attrition through enforcement strategy of dealing with illegal immigration. And you'll note that pro-enforcement conservatives generally describe themselves as being for enforcement first.
But when it comes to discussing a possible amnesty openly, I'm not sure I weigh the risks the same. Attrition has to be given a chance to work before amnesty can be discussed -- any perception that amnesty is inevitable will dissuade some irreducible number of illegals from self-deporting, even in the face of stepped up enforcement. The only way that amnesty won't be a magnet is if it seen in the same light as amnesties for draft and tax evaders: it must be viewed as a one-time event in a context where the law is usually enforced.
Read More
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/06/07/amnesty-someday