STRIVE for a bad title

As I had mentioned a few days ago, we now have a proposal in the House for immigration reform. I sometimes think there are paid consultants whose job is to come up with inane acronyms, though the title itself is also pretty bad. The bill is called the “Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007,” which in turn is shortened to STRIVE. Here is the link to the text via the Library of Congress.

Unlike the immigration legislation of 2006, the longest of which topped out at about 300 pages, this one is a behemoth at 697 pages. [Incidentally, the Secure Fence Act of 2006 was literally only three pages long].

I haven’t had time to go through the entire bill yet, but it does contain promising elements. For example, it discusses cooperation with not only the Mexican government (including facilitation of circular migration), but also Central American governments. Really, there is no way any type of law will succeed without working with Latin American governments.

Although I might have missed it, I did not see any estimate of overall cost. Instead, there is just that common phrase, “such sums as may be necessary.”