But do they really mean it?

Buried under an avalanche of public loathing after trying to tart up their latest amnesty porker as "comprehensive immigration reform," President Bush and Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff have now come up with a better idea -- enforcing some of the immigration laws we already have.

The Department of Homeland Security will expand the use of the E-Verify system for checking whether workers are legally allowed to work in this country -- accompanied with 25 percent steeper fines for employers who hire illegal aliens -- Secretary Chertoff said last week.

The department also plans to add more personnel at the Mexican border -- up from 12,000 to 20,000 agents. And the administration will push to expand legal paths for temporary workers to enter the country.

Indeed, a renewed bracero program for seasonal agricultural workers -- one that does not lead to "anchor babies" and unauthorized family immigration -- is worth a look.

But the voters -- weary of double-talk and misdirection on this issue -- have a right to ask some skeptical questions.

What happens if a would-be employer finds an applicant's documents are bogus? Will a quick call to the nearest ICE office bring a quick arrest, deportation and reward? Or will it just be more of the same old, "We don't have the staff, take down their names and mail them in" -- followed by a threatened inquiry by the EEOC?

And what would 8,000 or 10,000 new agents on the border actually do? Lay traps for the trespassers, round them up, fingerprint them, dump them on a beach somewhere south of Acapulco, as Dwight D. Eisenhower did with his effective "Operation Wetback," 50 years ago? Or merely count them as they come through, smiling and handing out stacks of Taco Bell coupons?

There would be a lot fewer jobs "Americans won't do," Mr. President, if we cut back government "disability" hand-outs to the able-bodied, while at the same time a sudden dearth of unskilled illegal aliens motivated employers to bid up their wages.