An Immigration Deal Worth Reaching

Instead of comprehensive immigration reform, House Republicans have produced an eight-paragraph statement of principles—and the mere existence of all those sentences is encouraging. House Speaker John Boehner obviously wants very much to pass immigration legislation. Whether he can do so may turn on the difference between two words—“citizenship” and “legalization”—and whether House Republicans see both as synonyms for “amnesty.”

In a sense, they’d be right not to see any difference. Millions of foreigners are unable to pursue their dreams of coming to the U.S. because of immigration restrictions. Legalization just adds injury to their insult: It may not provide all the benefits of U.S. citizenship, but it grants a rare privilege to those who crossed the border illegally while continuing to shut out the law-abiding masses.