Earlier this week, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl accused the Obama administration of "holding the border hostage," saying that the White House wasn't going to "secure the border" without Republican commitments to comprehensive immigration reform. At the time I pointed out that this was doubtful, both because of the already considerable federal resources devoted to the matter and because an impenetrable border isn't an outcome within our physical or technological capabilities.
Nevertheless, the administration is going further:
On Tuesday, President Obama asked Congress for $500 million in emergency border security, including two more aerial drones and 1,000 more Border Patrol officers to join 1,200 National Guard troops heading to the region.
This is a funny way of "holding the border hostage" by committing fewer resources to monitoring it. Again, the point remains that Republicans who won't negotiate "until the border is secure" are operating from an initial negotiating position that is impossible to achieve, so they can refuse to commit to comprehensive immigration reform by accusing the administration of refusing to live up to their basic obligations.
-- A. Serwer
