Casting Needed Light

Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, has another of his highly readable analyses of issues that come up in polling results. This one is taking a look at a very hot topic: immigration reform. He points out that there are a lot of "facts" being asserted by various factions in the debate that may or may not be true. The newly announced crackdown, requiring employers to fire workers with mismatched Social Security numbers will like as not clarify a lot of issues once and for all.

Well, the federal government is calling both sides' bluff.

And although everyone has an opinion on how best to deal with illegal immigration, facts are in short supply, and anything that separates fact from fiction will, in the long run, help clarify the debate.

However, even though most everyone says they want the current law enforced, doing so will inevitably make some people - and not just the immigrants caught in the sweep - unhappy.

Certainly, those who believe that welcoming newcomers, with or without papers, is the moral thing to do for a nation composed almost entirely of immigrants will not like the laws being actually enforced.

And, if there is indeed a serious crackdown and the economy does not fall apart, then those who said the rules should be changed because the current ones are unenforceable will have to find a new rationale. Of course, if a shortage of workers does tank the economy then it will make a powerful statement about the need for reform.

And, if the strict enforcement results in a decline in the number of folks crossing the border in the dead of night, then that too will inform the debate on the issue.

I'm taking a bit of an exception to the way Brown has worded his essay. There are facts aplenty in the debate, many of which cancel each other out. I've been one of the strong border enforcement people for a number of reasons, mostly having to do with national security. I've also been an advocate that tight border control and a very lenient legal immigration policy can and should be able to be enacted.

To the extent that this crackdown illuminates some of the truths of the immigration debate, it will have cast some real light on the issue. That's a good thing. As always, there will be some unintended consequences - some possibly good, most probably bad, as is the general rule with unintended consequences. That will also serve as a longterm good thing, I think.