Second in a series they are running now. DP
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
Seattlepi.com: Saying that we need comprehensive immigration reform is like saying that, gosh, we really need to do something about that war. Duh.
The questions are, what can get done and how much headway will we make on it this year? A bipartisan bill passed by the Senate last year didn't make it past the Republicans in the House of Representatives. They even opposed President Bush's guest-worker program.
Despite the loud voices of hard-line immigration opponents such as Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, there's fresh hope this year that maybe political differences can be set aside in order to deal with the very real issues of undocumented workers, meeting the labor needs of agricultural businesses, ineffective and overburdened border security and the very limited number of H-1B visas, allowing companies in the U.S. to recruit skilled foreign employees. And how about creating a process for making the illegal immigrants with solid records citizens? That's the reason the measure choked last year, and chances are we'll still be stuck with that ridiculous 700-mile fence the president approved last year. By the way, one of the companies that built border fences, Golden State Fence Co., pleaded guilty in 2006 to knowingly hiring illegal workers from 1999 to 2005.
We hope that Sens. John McCain and Ted Kennedy will produce an immigration reform bill that will satisfy Democrats, Republicans, businesses, immigrant groups and more. It's a tall order, we know.
But it should have been done years ago.
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