Free Republic

The GOP must steer clear of guest-worker programs and legalization without citizenship. Two of the basic rules of democratic politics are: Don’t hurt your allies, and don’t give your electoral opponents a weapon to use against you. As House Republican leaders prepare to announce their immigration principles near the end of this month, they should be aware of both rules. Two policies they are considering endorsing — legalization without citizenship and a massive increase in guest-worker visas — could sabotage the GOP’s standing with its base while also closing off future electoral roads. Legalization without citizenship would split the base...

Congressional Democrats and advocates for immigration reform will have to decide how much to bend as they await proposals from House Republicans that are likely to fall far short of what they have demanded. House GOP leaders plan to release as soon as next week their principles for rewriting the nation’s immigration laws, a document that could be followed by a series of legislative proposals. The principles are expected to be broad-brush in nature and emphasize border and interior security measures, but they are likely to include a first-ever official House GOP endorsement of legal status for many of the...

Rep. John A. Boehner and other House Republican leaders are huddling behind closed doors to draft a set of “principles” for immigration reform that they intend to unveil at their upcoming retreat on Jan. 29. Let me save them some time. There is one — and only one — principle for true immigration reform: Like any other public policy, it should serve the greatest interests of the greatest number of Americans. Clearly, very few if any public policies conform to that principle — hence, Congress‘ 8 percent job-approval rating — but few fail the test as thoroughly as our current...