Immigration

I agree with Mark Kleiman that, as a practical (and security) issue, finding some way to legalize the status of the 8 or 9 million immigrants that we are unlikely to be able to deport is a good thing, and I'm glad Tom Ridge spoke out about it. Of course, like many things in the Bush administration I would assume that this is mostly just an issue they're raising because it's the start of the election season. They're going to fuzzy up the issue so they can appeal to both the growing block of Mexican-American voters and their anti-immigrant base. I expect to see much good cop and bad cop to appeal to both sides. But, if my cynicism is misplaced, then good for the Bush administration!