Immigration to Re-Emerge as an Issue in the Presidential Race?

As they say, rust never sleeps.  Politico.com has a nice summary of the immigration proposals being considered by Congress.  On Wednesday, a group of Republican senators introduced a package of bills on immigration that represents harsher immigration enforcement but not anything representing a comprehensive approach to reform.  Among other things, the bill would require jail time for undocumented immigrants caught crossing the border, make it harder for them to open bank accounts, and compel them to communicate in English when dealing with federal agencies.  (For a story on the proposal, click here.).  Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), one of the original supporters of comprehensive immigration reform last year, challenged Senator John McCain (R-AZ), the presumptive Republican presidential nominee who in the past has worked on comprehensive immigration reform, to reject this punitive approach.

POSTSCRIPT  For a list of some of the most recently introduced enforcement-only bills, click Download deportation_only_bills.rtf

KJ