Just when you think he cannot surprise you any more, he does. His outreach to undocumented aliens is a political coup de main. As an immigrant, I do not share others’ view that Bush’s expansion of temporary work visas for illegals is somehow anathema. On purely pragmatic grounds, it makes a lot of sense. They’re here; they’re working; they deserve basic legal protection; immigration is America’s glory and demographic and fiscal savior. The immigrants will not be given preference over others aiming for citizenship. But citizenship can be eventually theirs’ through the regular – elaborate and frustrating – channels. I guess this doesn’t make me much of an old-style conservative – but I think it makes sense to integrate people already in the country rather than maintain a kind of surreal fiction that they aren’t here, or to hold over their heads the constant and debilitating risk of deportation or destitution. The status of such people is also terribly destructive to their sense of well-being, dignity and welfare. Bush’s money quote:
This new system will be more compassionate. Decent, hard-working people will now be protected by labor laws, with the right to change jobs, earn fair wages, and enjoy the same working conditions that the law requires for American workers. Temporary workers will be able to establish their identities by obtaining the legal documents we all take for granted. And they will be able to talk openly to authorities, to report crimes when they are harmed, without the fear of being deported.
But the real impact of the news is, of course, political. Bush has decided he can tick off the conservative forces in his own coalition and reach out to a huge new consistency. Even if he fails to pass the legislation, his very advocacy of it will send an extremely powerful signal to Latino voters: you’re welcome in the GOP realignment. Watching some of the reactions on television last night – Bill O’Reilly was literally screaming in his apoplexy, Pat Buchanan was talking about “an illegal invasion” (not Iraq, this time) – you can see the price Bush is prepared to pay politically. Or just look at the flecks of foam on John Derbyshire’s lips. It’s well worth it. The battle for the center – and for a real Republican realignment – is under way.
The Dish 