Obama compared to Bush

Word just came down that Obama will be visiting Mexico in April. Bush visited Fox in Mexico in February of his first year in office.

Bush was hopeful about amnesty for illegals very early on and as a result he was light on enforcement right from the beginning in 2001, lighter than Bill Clinton when it came to things like worksite raids.

It made sense at the time. Why bother rounding up the very people who would soon be standing in line for legalization applications? It would be a shame to go to all that trouble to deport people only to grant amnesty to their compadres.

And so Bush hung back.

Obama is making the same mistake. His message, delivered through Janet Napolitano, is clear: It’s OK to go after the business owner who hires the illegals, but it is forbidden to go after the workers themselves.

What Bush learned is that it is impossible to pass reform without first demonstrating to the American people that we can enforce immigration laws effectively. Bush finally learned that lesson in 2006 and began being more vigorous and visible with raids and deportations.

To be fair to all, Bush prosecuted more business owners but he did not just let the workers go. They were processed and deported.

This time around there is a media blitz by congress painting illegal workers as victims. Pelosi went way overboard at a Latino church, calling illegal aliens “very patriotic.” (That ought to get some excitement going among veterans, don’t you think?)

The Luis Gutierrez road show has been selling the victim message for a couple of months now.

Keep a list of all these politicians who have violated their oath of office by encouraging others to break the law.

As for Obama, we can only hope that congress will get cold feet again when it comes to reform and he’ll learn that enforcement comes before amnesty can be considered. Then again, the numbers have changed. Maybe they’ll pass amnesty this time against the will of the American people.

It’ll be interesting during a time of 8%+ unemployment to increase the size of the labor pool through legalization. Good luck, Senators. Can we set another record for low approval ratings?