BAD NEWS ON THE BORDER

Something bad happened to the nation's debate over a serious reform
of its immigration laws.

It got hijacked yesterday by "Border Vulnerabilities and
International Terrorism" -- the first of many hearings that House
Republican leaders plan to hold around the country this summer,
ostensibly to solicit public opinion about immigration reform. The
hearings are an effort to delay action on legislation until after the
November elections, and to drum up opposition to the Senate's
immigration bill, which focuses not only on border security but also
on a path to citizenship for qualified illegal immigrants.

This novel approach to governing -- seeking public input on bills
after they have passed -- reflects a cynical gamble that linking
immigration and terror will upend the Senate bill and give House
Republicans a short-term electoral boost.

The title gave the plot away. The hearing was useful only if the
problem of illegal immigration consists mainly of narco-traffickers
who decapitate police officers in Tijuana and send drugs in
18-wheelers across the border at Laredo, or Islamic fundamentalists
who sneak into the United States disguised as Mexicans. "It's
probably already happened," said Sheriff Rick Flores of Webb County,
Texas, one of several witnesses who obliged the Republicans by
depicting life on the southern border as something out of a "Mad Max" movie.

There are, of course, very serious concerns about border violence and
drug trafficking. But they can never be dealt with effectively
without the other pillars of sensible immigration reform, the ones
that House Republicans are trying to undermine by stage-managing a
specter of border chaos.

For now, they seem to have the upper hand. President Bush, who
addressed the nation in support of the Senate's approach to
immigration reform, appears to be backing away from it. Mr. Bush is
now said to be open to compromising on an "enforcement-first"
approach, under which any of the more complicated parts of
immigration reform would wait until the border was declared sealed,
which could be in a year or two, or never. Arlen Specter, a main
architect of the Senate bill, has sent similar hints about caving in
to this approach, though he also held a dueling hearing yesterday to
counter the House Republicans' hard-line message.

Mr. Bush has long talked a good game on the need for comprehensive
immigration reform and the foolishness of focusing only on border
security. But he is now at the head of a conga line moving backward.
There was a moment in the immigration debate, after months of
negotiations and pitfalls, when an opportunity for real progress
appeared. It came when the Senate passed its bill.

That moment is fading. Unless Mr. Bush and others stand up to the
fear-mongering House, it may already be gone.