Strange Talk of Immigration Reform from a Former Gang-of-Eighter

By Dan Cadman on August 7, 2017

According to the Arizona Republic, Sen. John McCain is talking immigration reform, apparently as in "comprehensive" immigration reform, a la the failed Gang of Eight Senate bill.

They quote him: "Immigration reform is one of the issues I'd like to see resolved. I've got to talk to him (Schumer) about when would be the best time. I think there are all kinds of deals to be made out there. I really do."

Note that both Schumer and McCain were members of the Gang of Eight, which produced that dishonest monstrosity of a deal that they attempted to foist on the American people.

I'm wondering what makes the senator think now is the time. The fact that border apprehensions have fallen drastically for the moment under President Donald Trump — for whom McCain has a visceral dislike? If so, there's an irony.

Besides, speaking with decades of experience I can say that such ebbs and flows are transitory. Much of the current cessation is the result of a wait-and-see attitude on the part of migrants still reacting to this president's tough campaign talk, although it doesn't hurt that he has removed the shackles placed on border and interior immigration agents by his predecessor.

But whether or not the slowdown persists will depend on many other factors that just aren't in place:

  • There's still no new border barrier;
  • The promised new influx of Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents hasn't materialized;
  • Not a single piece of enforcement legislation has passed Congress (most having stalled in the Senate) and gone on to the president for signing;
  • There is no exit registration system to determine which visa entrants overstay, and little effort at finding them if and when they do;
  • State and local governments that have declared themselves sanctuaries are still actively flouting the law and compromising public safety; and
  • Open borders groups, working in concert with progressive Democrats in state and local government, are still doing everything possible to frustrate and obstruct immigration enforcement efforts through constant lawfare, cherry-picking the jurisdictions and filing the suits in those court jurisdictions most likely to result in favorable outcomes.

So, what exactly makes Senator McCain think now's the time, or that anyone else would agree that it is, or that Chuck Schumer, Democratic minority leader in the Senate, is the right guy to work with to get something done that won't end up in exactly the same failure as the Gang of Eight bill, and for exactly the same reasons?

Most Americans have had enough of bait-and-switch immigration legislation that is always long on promises of enforcement and short on delivery.