Does it have to be either-or?
Gov. Mitch Daniels said Tuesday that he expects a bill cracking down on illegal immigration to be moderated to focus more on employers and less on law enforcement.
[. . .]
Sen. Mike Delph, the Carmel Republican who authored Senate Bill 590, said, though, that some law enforcement provisions will remain under the proposed amendments.
The governor is right that focusing on employers is the quickst, most efficient way to deal with the problem. If they can't get work, illegal immigrants aren't likely to come here. But why remove the law-enforcement angle? It's not as if police will be stopping to ask every Hispanic-looking person for his papers. "Police could arrest someone based on their immigration status, he said, if there is probable cause to think the person already has been ordered to be removed or detained by federal officials, has been indicted or convicted of an aggravated felony or willfully failed to register with the federal government as required." That's pretty narrowly focused.
But, wait:
The changes -- if adopted by the House Public Policy Committee when it meets Thursday -- could allow Daniels, who is mulling a run for the presidency in 2012, to finesse a thorny political issue.
Same old crap.
