With a name like Peggy Noonan, how could she be opposed to immigration?

Peggy Noonan:

The disinterest in the White House and among congressional Republicans in establishing authority on America's borders is so amazing--the people want it, the age of terror demands it--that great histories will be written about it. Thinking about this has left me contemplating a question that admittedly seems farfetched: Is it possible our flinty president is so committed to protecting the Republican Party from losing, forever, the Hispanic vote, that he's decided to take a blurred and unsatisfying stand on immigration, and sacrifice all personal popularity, in order to keep the party of the future electorally competitive with a growing ethnic group?

I don't think that's really true. I think that Bush, as I do, remembers those words of Emma Lazarus on the Statute of Liberty as a part of what America stands for.

The problem is that with the growth of the welfare state and all kinds of socialist programs, a flood of immigrants, especially unidentified and illegal ones, could bankrupt government, healthcare, prisons, etc. If we had the same level of government handouts available in 1918, there wouldn't be the same impact because the allure of coming here wouldn't be so great. We're only beginning to realize how silly we were to think that entitlement programs could work in perpetuity, even as we granted increases in them without increasing the taxes to pay for them. Sadly, I don't see things getting any better until they get a lot worse.

I am happy to note, however, that Ms. Noonan does believe there's a Devil.