A Little More On Immigration

Far from over...

The bill passed 62-36, with the major opposition coming from the Republican majority. But the bill's fate as it moves to a joint conference committee of the Senate and House is not good. Much opposition exists among conservative "base" Republican voters, who form the foundation of support for GOP politicians at the local level, especially in the U.S. heartland.

That attitude was expressed in the Senate by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., who is facing a tough re-election battle this year against Democrat Bob Casey Jr., son of the late Bob Casey Sr., a popular former governor. "The problem with this bill is that it is an amnesty bill, or a legalization bill, that I think is just fundamentally unfair to millions of people waiting around the world trying to get into this country legally," Sen. Santorum said, as quoted by news services.

With GOP House members worried about losing control of the House this November to resurgent Democrats, it's difficult to believe that a compromise bill will emerge before the election. There are deep differences between the Senate's comprehensive bill and the enforcement-only bill passed by the House in December. It looks to us like it's going to take at least one election cycle, with members of Congress from both houses going home to talk with voters, to get straight what the American people, through their elected senators and representatives, want done on immigration.