“I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigrants.”—Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

This is why the Bernard Kerik issue resonates. It has nothing to do with second-guessing the Bush White House vetting process. It’s the fact that the head of law enforcement in NYC and the potential leaders of homeland security could have such a blatant disregard for the law.

And everyone outside the Bush administration sees what the White House won’t: That enforcing immigration law is a key part of homeland security. Will the next DHS nominee be any more serious about illegal immigration that Kerik? Not unless President Bush suddenly gets serious about it, too.