A. Barton Hinkle on Why Immigration Reform Is Falling Short
The comprehensive immigration overhaul plan unveiled by the Senate's gang of eight has some commendable elements, writes A. Barton Hinkle, such as prioritizing merit-based visas and clearing the backlog of legal applicants. But it also has significant drawbacks, such as calling for another $7 billion in enforcement through drones, more fencing, an additional 3,500 federal border agents, a national employer mandate, and an entire new bureaucracy, the Bureau of Immigration and Labor Market Research. But the biggest problem may be that so many Republicans think the proposal is too lax when in fact it's not nearly lax enough.