I have just about given up on anything substantial being accomplished on illegal immigration in this country.

While I understand that many businesses depend on folks who are not American citizens to carry their workload, if we do not begin somewhere, and not just by building a fence, how will we ever arrest this ever growing problem?

A federal judge barred the Bush administration yesterday from launching a planned crackdown on U.S. companies that employ illegal immigrants, warning of its potentially “staggering” impact on law-abiding workers and companies.

In a firm rebuke of the White House, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer of San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction against the president’s plan to press employers to fire as many as 8.7 million workers with suspect Social Security numbers, starting this fall.

President Bush made the effort the centerpiece of a re-energized enforcement drive against illegal immigration in August after the Senate rejected his proposal to overhaul immigration laws. But the court ruling — sought by major American labor, business and farm organizations — highlighted the chasm that the issue has opened between the Republican Party and its traditional business allies.

The case also called attention to the gulf between Washington rhetoric about the need to curtail illegal immigration and the economic reality that many U.S. employers rely on illegal labor, as well as to the government’s inability for nearly three decades to develop adequate tools for identifying undocumented workers.

One of the questions I have in this case, is if these indivividuals are fired, where do they go. If we simply allow them back into the system and do not deport them, will we as taxpayers be footing the bill for more illegals than we already do?

There are no simple answers to illegal immigration but it appears that no matter when anyone, Congress, the President, Secretary of DHS, or citizens attempt to take the lead, ideas are squashed at their inception either by the courts or lawmakers themselves.

Let’s take a quick look at the judge who rendered this decision:

On Aug. 31, U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney issued a temporary restraining order pending an Oct. 1 hearing before Breyer, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997 and is the sister of Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer.

If this is appealed to the USSC, I wonder what their view will be of the entire case. According to the article, we will have a lengthy wait to find out.

HT: Macsmind