I posted a version of this over at Tapped, but it occurs to me that, given recent discussions, it's worth writing here, too. Too often, the immigration bill is being presented as possessing three interlocking parts, when what you really have are three separate bills each designed to buy off a particular constituency crucial to any immigration legislation's passage. There's an amnesty bill, aimed at liberals, Hispanics, and other pro-immigrant types. There's the immigration bill, which increases the number of visas and adds the guest worker program, which is aimed at business and Hispanics. And then there are the enforcement mechanisms and points system, which are aimed at restrictionists.
There's been some public effort to make these like essential cogs and gears of one machine, with the subtext being that if enforcement fails (as it likely will), or the amnesty is too complicated, the whole bill won't work. That's not true at all. The different elements are essentially free standing, and exist mainly to create a broad enough coalition to ensure passage.
