The rhetoric of closed borders: Why illegal immigration thrives

Tim and James agree that it is stupid to penalize landlords who rent property to illegal immigrants. I'm not so sure.

"Supporters of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants are unlikely to find a moment morefavorable to the case they have to make." That is the reaction of E. J. Dionne Jr. and William Galston to a survey of public sentiment on the issues surrounding immigration reform.

It’s behind a paywall, but Roll Call had a good piece on disagreements about immigration inside the conservative camp that I’ll excerpt:

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) said on Monday that his immigration plan will not include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, backing off his previous support for a policy that pro-reform activists consider a centerpiece of comprehensive reform.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The senior Homeland Security Department official in charge of arresting and deporting illegal immigrants announced his retirement the same day the agency said that hundreds of people facing deportation had been released from immigration jails due to looming budget cuts, accord

You’d be forgiven for missing the key sentence on immigration reform in President Obama’s State of the Union speech last night.

LAS VEGAS — Declaring “now is the time” to fix broken immigration laws, President Barack Obama on Tuesday heralded a rare show of bipartisanship between the White House and Senate lawmakers on basic plans for putting millions of illegal immigrants on a pathway to citizenship, cracking down on businesses that employ people illegally and tightening security at the borders.

The Washington Post has the full text of the outline of the bipartisan group of Senators' proposal to provide sweeping reform to the nation's immigration system.