Is the plan reasonable?

Arizona Republic | Bush: 'Allow willing workers'
President Bush on Wednesday appealed to Congress to create an ambitious program that would open U.S. jobs to scores of foreign workers, including the 8 million to 10 million undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

But the president's proposal stops short of offering permanent legal status, a sore point for Hispanic groups and some members of Congress.

Well, there's a reason this is being announced the way it is, as an "appeal to create a program" rather than as a fully-formed proposal. Nonetheless, I have no problems with the idea as it stands.

What's the issue here? The borders leak, badly. Our immigration policies aren't being followed, aren't working and aren't being enforced. Some parts of the country are seeing massive numbers of foreign nationals of uncertain legal status, and it's having an effect on our economy.

What are our options?

Deport the illegals and beef up the borders. And create an international tragedy that will dwarf the Trail of Tears and Japanese-American internment camps. As every pundit has said in the course of this debate, We Are A Nation of Immigrants. "Give me you're tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" still resonates strongly here.

Amnesty and Citizenship. Like hell. If we are a Nation of Immigrants, we are also a Nation of Laws. What's free here is Opportunity. That we give away by the bucketload. Past that you earn your keep and pay your way.

Let it go and pretend nothing's wrong. Thus (further) undermining respect for all American law by encouraging employers to break them at will.

Create a new category of non-citizen resident that rewards them for contributing their work to the American economy. This sounds like what Bush is asking for. I don't see the problem. No, all the issues haven't been addressed yet. But they can be, and they should be.

Is it a political gesture? Almost certainly. What isn't? That doesn't mean it's a bad idea.

Why now? Why not now? It's very rare that there's a wrong time to do the right thing.