Miami Herald

Immigration debate has shifted from reform to enforcement

Immigration was going to be one of the issues of the 2008 presidential election season. It has not so far turned out to be the potboiler many expected. — But it’s still simmering away below the surface. — Last year’s collapse of immigration reform in Congress made legalization — and those who supported it — politically radioactive

”They’re doing some real stuff. That’s where the public outrage has really made a difference,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports sharp reductions in legal and illegal immigration. “All of these things take time, no matter how committed an administration is. And this administration is not that committed.”

That means broad reform must wait, he said. A lot of people, in particular advocates of legalization, he said, “are underestimating how long and complicated it is to create infrastructure of enforcement when you never had one. It’s not one or two years.”

The aggressive thrust represents a victory for those who have long advocated a hard line on illegal immigrants: Make things as difficult as possible for the undocumented, and some will leave on their own.

HERE