The American Spectator

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Philip Klein seems concerned that the Republican Party's lack of interest in confronting the unlawful presence of illegal aliens over the past six years may cause the GOP serious heartburn in the presidential election of 2008. He ruminates that there are rumblings that GOP "immigration hawks" may nominate their own candidate, and, by so doing, prepare the groundwork for the election of you know who. Why is it that people like me who wish to see current immigration laws enforced are, invariably, referred to as "hard liners?" Regarding the actions -- or lack thereof -- of the unindicted co-conspirator of this debacle, the President of the United States, we hear very little, but, to quote the title of a song of my day, "It Takes Two to Tango." I would surely hope that Mr. Klein has not been hypnotized by the animadversions of Messrs. Limbaugh and Hannity, who rail against the RINOs in the Congress who have allowed the illegal alien situation to worsen, but forgot that, as Mr. Truman was known to say, "The buck stops here."

"No other issue remains more divided to Republicans than immigration," Mr. Klein rightly intones, although I would have questioned his elision of the adjective "illegal." But what I shall dispute is his quoting the commentary of Linda Chavez, a notorious GOP "open-borders" apologist, as a legitimate source advocating "comprehensive immigration reform," which, to her, means "amnesty." Current day journalism labels people who wish to enforce immigration law as "extremists," while applying to Chavez and her cohort, Tamar Jacoby, both of whom favor rewarding lawbreakers with "the path to citizenship," the designation "moderates" on this issue. Was it not Orwell who said that the decline in the accuracy of language was a precursor toward societal disintegration?

Although Mr. Klein's clairvoyance about future GOP presidential candidates is murky at best, and even has a hollow ring about it, on one point I know he is right: those of us "extremists" and/or "hard liners" will actively work against the candidacy of Sen. McCain. Whether it be the formation of a new party, or staying home on Election Day, Sen. McCain, by his actions in supporting every aspect of amnesty, as well as his too close a friendship with Mexico's former president, Vicente Fox, is the bete noire of those to us who believe we have been invaded.

The real problem that confronts the leadership of the Republican Party in dealing with this most divisive issue is how the GOP leadership, with a pro-amnesty figure as its Honorary Chairman, will address the actions, not the words, of its likely presidential candidates to be.

Signor Giuliani may claim that he inherited 400,000 illegal aliens when he took office, but he was also responsible for an ordinance which made it an offense for NYC employees to report illegal aliens to Federal authorities. New York remains a "sanctuary city," and the ordinance is still on the books. Sen. Brownback had the delightful idea of importing about 10,000 Somali tribesmen into this country on the condition that they NOT be sent to Kansas, his home state. (They were sent to Maine!) As for Romney, although he is the best of a sorry bunch on this issue, his decision to coordinate state and federal activities and information, as well as further police training in dealing with illegal aliens who commit crimes, came too late, and Deval Patrick, his successor, cancelled the agreement.

Despite Mr. Klein's effort to show that immigration may not be very high on the list of what American voters think important in '08, this issue will, in my judgment, prove to be not only decisive, but, possibly, a divisive one as well - assuming we have departed Iraq. As for the future of the GOP, the failure to deal effectively with the myriad problems caused by illegal immigration will determine if the party stays together, or splinters, with disastrous results in 2008 and beyond.

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