There are few things that Bush and the Republicans in the Senate could do that would more strongly telegraph their opposition to enforcing our immigration laws than cutting back on the size of the wall being built at the border. So, what are they planning to do? You guessed it...

"Six months after approving a bill promising to build some 850 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Bush administration and Senate Republicans are now saying 370 miles is enough.

In his negotiations with Republican senators, Mr. Bush also appears to have rejected the key compromise in the Senate bill passed last year: allowing only longtime illegal aliens with "roots" to have a path to citizenship. He instead favors a more circuitous path that is open to almost all illegal aliens.

Mr. Bush has embraced higher financial penalties for illegal aliens who want to remain in the United States, and for the first time has accepted specific "triggers," including stepped-up enforcement, that must be met before legalization and guest-worker plans go into effect, according to a PowerPoint presentation that administration officials and advisers say represents the state of discussions between Mr. Bush and Senate Republicans.

The presentation, first obtained and released by U.S. News & World Report, calls for 370 miles of fencing, 200 miles of vehicle barriers and 300 miles of electronic monitoring on the border. By that trigger, the guest-worker and legalization programs could begin with less than 900 miles of the 1,950-mile U.S.-Mexico border being monitored or blocked."

So, why are they doing this? Do they think it appeals to Hispanic voters? No. If they thought the wall was that big of an issue with Hispanics, they'd be, unfortunately, agitating to get the whole thing removed. Do they think it's too expensive to build the whole fence? Come on, since when have members of the Senate not named Tom Coburn or Jim DeMint been concerned about the cost of anything?

The truth is, they don't want the full wall built because they're afraid it will actually work and cut off the flow of illegal aliens. George Bush and the Senate, both Democrats and Republicans, talk tough about enforcement, because that's what the American people want, but both sides in Congress want large numbers of illegals to continue to stream across our border.

Why?

Because Republicans see the illegals as cheap labor for companies that are giving them campaign contributions and Democrats see illegals as potential votes down the road. You know why we have such a problem with illegal aliens in this country? It's simply because the Democrats are looking out for their long term electoral prospects, the Republicans are on the take via campaign contributions from crooked businessmen, and almost no one is looking out for the American people.