Many of Our Immigration Problems Could Have Been Resolved in 2007

Remember 2007, when conservative Republicans shot down George W Bush’s Immigration policy? Bush, for all his faults, honestly tried in this case to be the compassionate conservative I voted for in 2000. For those of you with short memories, here’s what happened:

It was a victory for Republican conservatives who strongly criticized the bill's provisions that would have established pathways to lawful status for many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. They were aided by talk radio and TV hosts who repeatedly attacked the bill and urged listeners to flood Congress with calls, faxes and e-mails.  

The bill would have toughened border security and instituted a new system for weeding out illegal immigrants from workplaces. It would have created a new guest-worker program and allowed millions of illegal immigrants to obtain legal status if they briefly returned home. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19475868/ns/politics/)

But for no reason other than prejudice against Hispanics, instead of a step in the right direction, we saw no reform whatsoever and the situation has deteriorated.