The Dems in the Senate introduced shell legislation yesterday, marked with early bill numbers, to highlight their priorities. Bill number S.1, for instance, is going to be the stimulus package, S.4 health care, S.5 climate change. S.9 is the immigration bill, and some people have gotten worried that this signals a big administration push for amnesty or, as the bill title puts it, the "Stronger Economy, Stronger Borders Act of 2009," which would, in nice Orwellian fashion, lead to a weaker economy and weaker borders. I actually don't find this particularly distressing — maybe I'm just whistling past the graveyard, but I still think it's a case of wishful thinking by the amnesty crowd. In fact, the purely symbolic nature of the gesture is reinforced by something Sen. Leahy, the only member to comment on the introduction of the bill, included in his brief remarks: "We must also live up to the goal of family reunification in our immigration policy and join at least 19 other nations that provide immigration equality to same-sex partners of different nationalities." Uh, yeah — I'm sure the Obama Administration wants to package gay marriage and amnesty into a single bill. Bring it on!
