When it comes to immigration policy, there isn't much difference between any of the main contenders for the presidency in 2008. Immigration is a "third rail" issue in election year politics, i.e. potentially deadly. These days, it is so contentious and so unresolved in the public domain that a common tactic is avoidance. Either that, or a safe, rehearsed answer that doesn't go much beyond predictable rhetoric. This is too bad, because immigration is among the top foreign policy and national security concerns mentioned by Americans in polls-- along with the economy, Iraq and healthcare.

Having a thorough and balanced immigration debate would be a healthy excercise in United States civics. The issue brings up all sorts of important philosophical issues for Americans, everything from who we are as citizens to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Unfortunately, 2008 is not the year for this sort of introspection.

Immigration has an intimidating reputation in politics for a reason. The last major effort in legislation on immigration was the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007--a bill that was portrayed as a balance between legalization of illegal immigrants and increased border enforcement: it included funding for 300 miles of vehicle barriers, 105 camera and radar towers, and 20,000 more Border Patrol agents, while simultaneously restructuring visa criterion around high skill workers. This Act, which was built on three earlier efforts at legislation, lost in the Senate 34-61.Despite the fact that this piece of legislation was negotiated for hundreds of hours--every aspect was and remains embroiled in controversy.

The presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, co-sponsored one of these earlier bills together with Senator Ted Kennedy back in 2005. His two Democratic presidential rivals, Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama each supported his efforts. All three candidates have also supported the construction of a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexican border, a controversial policy proposal with high decibel proponents and detractors.(If I may chime in, I lived in West Berlin, while the Berlin Wall was still standing. The idea of constructing a wall between the US and Mexico seems, to me, naive and insulting to our neighbors). Senator McCain has a somewhat harder political task on the issue. His border state-- Arizona-- is the crossover point for most migrants coming from the South--so he has dealt with the issue for years. However, part of the Republican activist base is vociferously anti-immigrant, labeling most efforts (including compromise legislation) as "amnesty".

Each of the presidential candidates puts a national security lens on immigration while out on the campaign trail, insisting that the first order priority is securing our borders. To her credit, Clinton calls deportation arguments implausible and all three Senators cite the need to be humane and compassionate. (this is important in the face of revelations of terrible and even lethal conditions at some US detention facilities) Yet a glance at the deeply divided political constituencies involved in immigration reform illustrates just how difficult this issue will remain for the forseeable future.

Lacking a comprehensive federal framework, states have taken matters into their own hands. Some communities divide into pro and anti-immigrant factions. Local legislation has been put forward to alternately protect undocumented immigrants and sometimes to make their lives more difficult (one measure I find particularly cruel is not allowing immigrant children to public beaches or swimming pools) But localities push back, saying that they are desperate to do something, anything.

While everyone acknowledges that something needs to be done, immigration (especially by Latinos) is seen very differently depending on who is interpreting. Viewed as an opportunity for cultural evolution on the Left to cries of self-inflicted cultural genocide on the Right, the ultimate solution is going to take a cohort of talented politicians. Here are some bits of the varied challenges that will ultimately need to be addressed by our next President: