Push toward immigration reform? Not in the states

[Geee]

Washington Times:

The immigration debate may be ramping up in Washington but it’s chilled in the states, where the crackdown fervor of two years ago has given way to a cautious approach amid changing political currents and court decisions.

Gone is the appetite for broad “omnibus” bills such as Arizona’s 2011 law that instituted state criminal penalties for illegal immigration. Instead, it’s immigrant-rights groups that are now on the offensive, passing a laws granting in-state college tuition rates to illegal immigrants in Colorado and driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants in Illinois.

“There has been a general reaction by folks to the impact that the Latino vote had in November — that people are thinking twice about the actions they take,” said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. “Most of these pieces of legislation had been supported by Republican legislators, and I think people are thinking twice about whether this is a strategy the party wants to pursue.”

Just two years ago, the momentum was decidedly on the other side.

[Draggingtree]

Examiner Editorial: Rand Paul and the false link between border security and immigration reform

 

March 20, 2013 | 6:00 pm

"Immigration reform will not occur until conservative Republicans, like myself, become part of the solution," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told the United States Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. "I am here today to begin that conversation."

 

Paul should be commended for furthering a much-needed conservative conversation on immigration reform. But the core of the proposal he set forth shares the same fatal flaw as past failed immigration efforts: It links the achievement of border security with that of granting status to those currently in the U.S. illegally.

 

"In order to bring conservatives to this cause however," Paul said, "those who work for reform must understand that a real solution must ensure that our borders are secure. ...

http://washingtonexaminer.com/examiner-editorial-rand-paul-and-the-false-link-between-border-security-and-immigration-reform/article/2524917