Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

National Journal's "Beltway Blogroll" has an interesting post titled How Blogs Shaped The Immigration Debate. But those who say the immigration reform bill was defeated by critics yelling "Amnesty!" are wrong. Blogging critics took the bill apart piece by piece, examined what it said, determined what it actually would do (and wouldn't do), and explained its implications and impacts in clear, plain English. Given that Washington has no credibility on the issue, and only a track record of failure to enforce the borders, the legislation was brittle to begin with. Bloggers just tapped away at its myriad of weak spots and it crumbled.

Now it's time for the Republican Party to pick up the pieces of the debate.

How? By standing firm for border security and enforcement of our existing immigration laws. Congress passed a law authorizing 700 miles of border fence and other border-security enhancements last year.

Republicans should demand the Democratic congressional leadership fund the fence.

Now is not the time to deal with the 12 million illegals who are already here. Now is not the time to create some sort of "path to citizenship" or "guest worker" program. The 12 million aren't going anywhere - Congress can deal with their status later, after it has done what it promised the American people last year - secured the border and stopped the 12 million from becoming 13 million or 30 million.

Doing nothing right now about the 12 million isn't a recipe for a "silent amnesty," it's a formula for effective focus on the roots of our illegal immigration problem: the failure to secure our border with Mexico, and the related failure to have effective systems for keeping track of visitors who overstay their work or travel visas and to dissuade American employers from hiring illegals. Do those, and the American people will, I believe, be willing to entertain proposals to create a "path to citizenship" for at least some of the 12 million. Though, certainly, Ted Kennedy's desire to even grant citizenship to illegals who have committed crimes in the United States must never be allowed to become law.

The Bush administration is reeling from the defeat of the immigration reform package because it was bad legislation that the American people rightly saw as a surrender. The Republican Party does best when it stands for the rule of law, and it can turn the defeat of the immigration bill into political victory if it only will stand for that which most Americans stand for: a secure border and enforcement of our existing immigration laws.