The Aug. 7 editorial about immigration (“Our View: House Republican stance feeds ongoing border crisis”) completely misses the mark.

The crisis at the border is a direct result of the Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals initiative and non-enforcement of the law, both of which are the president’s responsibility. President Obama, like President Bush before him, willfully ignores congressional mandates to build a border fence and enforce current immigration law.

So it is foolish to think he will act on any new laws except those that facilitate mass immigration or give him more money to play with. That kind of counterproductive legislation is exactly what your editorial advocates.

What is really needed are disincentives to those who want to get into the country in violation of our laws: a daunting border fence (already required by law to be built but ignored for eight years); strict interior enforcement against both employers of illegal immigrants and the trespassers themselves (already required by law but ignored), and elimination of access to public assistance (already required by law). Until that happens – which requires good-faith efforts by the executive branch – we will see an increasing mass swarming to and through the borders to settle in our welfare state.

Nothing Congress does will have any effect without commitment from the executive, so don’t blame Congress when the president fiddles and plays pool while the republic burns.

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