Abroad at home.(IMMIGRATION)

THE most important part of President Bush's televised address to the nation on immigration was not his call for sending unarmed National Guardsmen to temporarily assist the Border Patrol. Rather, it was his formal embrace, for the first time, of citizenship for illegal aliens.

When he first laid out his view on a foreign-worker program two years ago, he was explicit that illegal aliens could sign up but that "this program expects temporary workers to return permanently to their home countries after their period of work in the United States has expired."

In his recent address, Bush rightly emphasized security and assimilation--while advocating a policy that would undermine both goals. He adopted the position of Senators Kennedy and McCain and other amnesty supporters, saying that illegal aliens who meet certain conditions should be able to apply for citizenship. He denied that this represented amnesty because "approval would not be automatic." But when have illegal immigrants ever received "automatic" citizenship? If that is the definition of amnesty, then there has never been one.

This administration's lack of credibility on immigration enforcement can't be reversed by adding a few references to the National Guard to its tired rhetoric of unmanned aerial vehicles and more detention beds. Only action can reverse the doubts. So far, even the positive actions the administration has taken are less than they appear. For instance, the president pledged (yet again) to end the practice of "catch and release" for non-Mexican illegals at the border. The immigration service has indeed made progress in adding detention space for such people and speeding their return home, but is still releasing captured illegals back into communities.

Likewise, the arrests several weeks ago of nearly 1,200 illegal aliens working for IFCO Systems were widely touted as heralding a new wave of legal action against crooked employers. But most of the illegal immigrants ...