The New York Times has a very sensible editorial on immigration today, lamenting that the failure of the comprehensive reform bill has not led to more humane or constructive solutions, but a retreat to enforcement-only strategies and xenophobic local policies. Instead of not going forward, we've actually gone far back. I remain sadly pessimistic on the chances of a more enlightened policy coming to the fore in the near future -- the real question is whether we can keep the situation from becoming much, much worse. Particularly if current fears bear out and the collapse of the credit markets leads to a general recession. Immigrants rarely do well in times of economic pain...
