Marching in the streets

Supporters of illegal immigration took to the nation's streets Thursday, undeterred by the political and public relations disasters that resulted from their previous marches advocating amnesty.

The crowds were significantly smaller than those of just two years ago, and the flags of foreign nations weren't flying, but the primary message hadn't changed: "comprehensive" immigration reform from Congress that gives more than 12 million illegal immigrants a simple track to citizenship and the opportunity to bring their families here.

Their updated platform included calls for state and local governments to rescind laws targeting illegal immigrants and their employers; for federal authorities to stop immigration raids and halt deportations; and for police departments to end partnerships with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that allow local officers to enforce some federal immigration laws.

Lost on the thousands of "immigration activists" (note their care to avoid the use of the word "illegal"): Many of these measures to address the fiscal and social costs of illegal immigration resulted directly from citizen outrage at the 2006 marches in favor of illegal immigration.

It was bad enough that illegals were overwhelming public schools, burdening law enforcement, bankrupting hospitals and driving up car insurance rates. Seeing hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants flood the streets of our biggest cities, waving the flags of the nations they fled for lack of economic opportunity and demanding all the rights and privileges of citizenship was too much for many in the electorate. Following a successful grass-roots effort to kill federal amnesty, voters took their frustrations to their state and local governments and demanded action.

Arizona lawmakers crafted the country's toughest illegal immigration law, which gives local regulators the authority to revoke the business licenses of companies that employ illegal immigrants. It survived legal challenges, and now South Carolina's General Assembly is poised to pass similar legislation any day. Other states are angling to follow.

In an election year, members of Congress have no desire to anger voters with further talk of "comprehensive" amnesty.

The more vocal illegal immigrants and their sympathizers become, the less likely they are to achieve any of their policy goals, and the more likely they'll see state and local governments take steps to fill the federal enforcement void.