This summer Arnold Schwarzenegger wowed the Republican convention with his invocation of the immigrant dream. He celebrated the fact that a scrawny boy from Austria could grow up to become governor of California. He celebrated the openness of American society. And he celebrated the Republican Party's continuing commitment to immigration. "To my fellow immigrants listening tonight," he said, to roars of approval, "I want you to know how welcome you are in this party...We encourage your dreams. We believe in your future." Wonderful stuff. But unfortunately political conventions bear about the same relationship to reality as Mr Schwarzenegger's films do. The reality is that immigration is a nightmare for the American right. The current immigration system is about as badly broken as it can be, with 8m immigrants residing in the United States illegally and another 1m illegals arriving every year. But George Bush has no chance of fixing it unless he is willing to get into a fight with his own rank and file.
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