John Podhoretz on Immigration John Podhoretz on Immigration

In an article atThe Corner on National Review Online, John Podhoretz calls it fairly well where we are in immigration. Both sides of the debate are so radicalized that anything Congress does is going to be bad.

People wonder why the President's poll numbers have dropped through the floor. It isn't because of the War in Iraq. Those opposing him there mostly voted for Kerry anyway. It is on immigration. No matter what he does there, a lot of those on both sides hate it. I think he is truly caught between a rock and an immovable object in this.

I don't know where it was that I read this, but I found some merit in the idea that the only solution is to give both sides something. Put up a fence - a really good fence. But in trade for that, give those here illegally a way to get legitimacy. The reason that this might work is, first, the obvious, that it gives both sides something. But also, while the illegals are straining the system in some states, it is not overwhelming. It is just getting there. We could, without too much disruption, assimilate those here already. The problem has always been whether we could assimilate another couple of hundred million Hispanics.