Amnesty: a bad idea -- again

President Bush is being prevailed upon to issue another immigration amnesty, as a gesture of good will to Mexico.
It's a bad idea, and it comes at the wrong time.
It's a bad idea because immigration amnesties don't do what they're billed to do -- stop illegal immigration. The theory is that an amnesty provides a fresh start, an opportunity to better police illegal immigration in the future. If that were true, there wouldn't be talk about the need for amnesty now, because the nation had one in 1986.
It's also a bad idea because it is an insult to those would-be immigrants who play by the rules. Only 800,000 legal immigrants were admitted to the United States in 2000. To reward the millions who broke the rules is not only unfair, it inevitably encourages others to sneak across the border. Why not? At worst they face deportation; at best they might eventually be rewarded with legal status.
Bad timing: This is the worst possible time to be talking about an amnesty, also for two reasons.
The first and most obvious is that the United States must protect its borders more zealously now than ever.
The second is a bit more subtle. Undoubtedly the vast majority of recipients of amnesty would be immigrants from Mexico, and, indeed, the growing power of Hispanic voters is one of the issues driving the present amnesty move.
But at the same time that the administration of President Bush is pursuing amnesty for illegal immigrants, the administration of Mexican President Vincente Fox is openly pursuing a policy of dual citizenship aimed at increasing Mexico's power and influence in dealing with the United States.
While the United States would be opening its arms to as many as 3 million illegal immigrants, clearing the way for them to work legally in the United States and pursue citizenship, Fox is assuring them that they will still be Mexican citizens, able to cross back and forth and vote in elections in both nations.
Juan Hernandez, Fox's cabinet minister for Mexicans Abroad, told the television program "Nightline" that "we are betting" that Mexican-American citizens will continue to "think Mexico first," even generations from now.
That kind of Balkanization of America is something that the United States government should be guarding against, not aiding and abetting.
Immigration amnesty is an idea whose time came in 1986 and whose time has passed. If President Bush can't see that, Congress must.