A key moderate in the Senate has apparently shifted away from an insistence on instantaneous comprehensive immigration reform, agreeing to support a borders-first approach. Arlen Specter, one of the more liberal members of the GOP caucus, has announced his openness to verification of border security and employer enforcement before any efforts at normalization commence:

The security of the border should be the No. 1 priority for an immigration bill, Sen. Arlen Specter said yesterday, and he's open to a compromise that sets goals for border and interior enforcement ahead of a guest-worker program and path to citizenship for illegal aliens. ...

"Are we out of touch with the American people? We may be, on the basis of what the American people know today," he said, adding that the broken borders and poor interior enforcement get most of the attention. But he said he's having hearings, beginning July 5 in Pennsylvania, to look at the need for a guest-worker program and to examine how to deal with current illegal aliens.

Mr. Specter said that although the Senate would insist on a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for many illegal aliens in the final compromise bill, he is open to legislation that would make those proposals contingent on having a secure border and improved interior enforcement.

"It may be down the line that we will come to some terms on a timetable, with border security first and employment verification first," he said.

Such an amendment was offered during the Senate floor debate, but failed by a vote of 55-40, with Mr. Specter joining most Democrats and some Republicans in defeating it. Yesterday, Mr. Specter said he understands the sentiment of those who want enforcement first.

Is Congress out of touch on immigration? Almost assuredly. Even Jane Harman, the California Democrat who represents a reliably liberal district, noted her surprise recentlty at the reaction of her contituents to the efforts at normalization. People in this country remember Simpson-Mazzoli all too well, and they will not support another normalization effort without finally completing the loop and getting serious about border enforcement. In this way, the American public has gotten themselves way ahead of their elected representatives.

The problem at this point will be in convincing the hardliners to accept any kind of normalization at all. The vitriol aimed at them during this time by the political elite has made them significantly less likely to compromise. They see themselves on the side of the angels on this issue, and now the politicians have discovered that they are certainly on the side of the voters. However, we will still find it almost impossible to get the border security we want without giving at least something on normalization. Otherwise, we won't have the votes to stop another filibuster.

The question then becomes how to craft a compromise that offers no reward for lawbreaking while still normalizing those illegals who have lived well among us. Perhaps that means less of them qualify for the program, or putting permanent residency rather than citizenship as the prize, with citizenship only available to those who agree to self-deport and re-enter through improved immigration procedures. Even with that, we still need to get the border security accomplished before any rational effort can be made towards normalization, and the timetables and thresholds have to be specific and hard-cast before anyone will trust the government to enforce it.

Specter's conversion gives hope that the Senate may finally have gotten the message from the American electorate about the primacy of border security. If we have Specter on board, then it looks much easier to get past a filibuster, and it may also prove beneficial in drafting some of the other moderates to the staged approach. In the end, though, we will need to see the thresholds they have in mind before we can really hope to see actual progress on border security.

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