If you remember, back in January Republican Rep. Jeff Flake got booted off the House Judiciary Committee. At the time, Flake said the Republican leadership told him it was payback for his "bad behavior" with respect to immigration reform. "They know a comprehensive immigration package is coming with my name on it," Flake told the Arizona Republic.

Yesterday Flake made good on that promise, introducing a comprehensive immigration reform bill co-sponsored by Illinois Democrat Luis Gutierrez. They've given it a rather corny name, the STRIVE ACT of 2007 (Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy), and the particulars of the bill here. As you can see, it's a vastly different starting point from where the House was last year.

Not surprisingly, Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo wasted no time in attacking the bill:

"The President and his new Democratic allies in Congress seem hell-bent on cramming this mass amnesty down the throats of the American people whether they want it or not," said Congressman Tancredo. "They keep changing the shade of lipstick, but like I've said time and time again, it's still the same old pig."

I don't know that this bill is going to pass muster with most Republicans or with most Blue Dog Democrats.

Meanwhile, as Blake observedyesterday, the Boston Globe reported that John McCain has pulled back from re-introducing a comprehensive immigration bill in the Senate with Teddy Kennedy. It's still unclear whether McCain will throw in with the group of Republicans (which includes McCain's colleague and presidential rival, Sam Brownback) who are currently working directly with the administration to craft a comprehensive bill that would not only pass the Senate but be acceptable to the majority of House Republicans as well.

Two related immigration stories worth mention. The first is a report in today's Houston Chronicle that Justice Department documents released in connection with the US Attorney firings revealed that until 2005 illegal immigrants caught crossing the border were not charged with a criminal violation until their sixth offense. According to the Chronicle, that policy changed in late 2005 when the Border Patrol initiated a crack down and began prosecuting all those caught crossing the border illegally.

Another story in the Seattle Times gives a hint of the effectiveness of new technology employed at the border - in this case an aerial drone:

An unmanned aircraft used to patrol the U.S. border with Mexico has helped nab a Washington state man wanted in King County on suspicion of child rape.[snip]

First launched in October, the aircraft uses an infrared camera and Global Positioning System equipment to monitor the Arizona desert from 19,000 feet in the air. When "hot spots" are sensed, the images are sent back to a control room monitoring the flight, said Milne. Agents are then directed to the area.

This plane and one that crashed last year in Arizona have accounted for 3,900 arrests and the seizure of more than 13,600 pounds of marijuana in the Southwest, according to the agency.

"This aircraft is so covert that if we come upon a group of 10 or 15, we can count 10 or 15 heads," said a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent in Arizona. "It's a great time-saver in terms of manpower."

A second aircraft will be launched in North Dakota later this year to monitor the Canadian border, Milne said.

So much of the illegal immigration debate is driven by emotion and by cries of "racism," but who can honestly be opposed to 1) enforcing the immigration laws we already have on the books and 2) employing technology to better patrol and protect our borders? The fact we haven't been doing this kind of stuff for years is why there's such focus on taking an "enforcement first" approach to the issue before beginning to deal with the question of what to do with the folks already living here illegally.

--------------------------------------------
Follow the RCP Blog on Twitter.
Become a fan of RCP on Facebook.
--------------------------------------------