One Step Forward, Two Back

LAST year Congress dealt with illegal immigration and welfare reform, and so it seems reasonable to expect that it would now move on to a debate of the larger problem—legal immigration, which accounts for about three-quarters of total immigration to the United States. But the mood in Washington has shifted. The Administration is free to ignore the problems of legal immigration since Texas Democrat Barbara Jordan is no longer around to raise the issue. Many Republicans are convinced that last year’s immigration debate hurt them in the 1996 elections, despite all the evidence to the contrary (see NR, Dec. 23, 1996, p. 41).

Not only is Congress not moving forward, it is not even content to maintain the status quo. Instead, it is scrambling to reverse the laws enacted last year, notably the welfare-reform law.

RJ

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Rosemary Jenks

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LAST year Congress dealt with illegal immigration and welfare reform, and so it seems reasonable to expect that it would now move on to a debate of the larger problem—legal immigration, which accounts for about three-quarters of total immigration to the United States. But the mood in Washington has shifted. The Administration is free to ignore the problems of legal immigration since Texas Democrat Barbara Jordan is no longer around to raise the issue. Many Republicans are convinced that last year’s immigration debate hurt them in the 1996 elections, despite all the evidence to the contrary (see NR, Dec. 23, 1996, p. 41).

Not only is Congress not moving forward, it is not even content to maintain the status quo. Instead, it is scrambling to reverse the laws enacted last year, notably the welfare-reform law.