As immigration fight heats up, Brewer and Obama win; we lose

On the eve of the Fourth of July, as here in Arizona we prepare to both celebrate this country's birthday and fend off its attack, it seems a good time to ponder the cage fight now under way in the land of the red, white and black-and-blue.

On one side stands Gov. Jan Brewer, who this week unleashed an ad that went national - as everything she does these days is apt to do. There she was, standing in front of one of those warning signs posted in the desert, turf now essentially ceded to drug and human smugglers.

"Washington is broken, Mr. President!" a visibly angry Brewer says. "Do your job. Secure our borders."

On the other stands President Barack Obama, who has been forced to take on the issue of illegal immigration given Senate Bill 1070. On Thursday, he called on Congress to fix America's "broken and dangerous" immigration system and then announced that it won't happen because of Republicans.

"I'm ready to move forward," Obama said. "The majority of Democrats are ready to move forward. And I believe the majority of Americans are ready to move forward."

So who wins?

Brewer does. Thanks to illegal immigrants, she's a rock star to the right and a regular now on the national talk-show circuit. On Monday, she even made an endorsement in the Georgia gubernatorial race, where a Republican candidate called her "an inspiration to conservatives." Polls that had her trailing Democrat Terry Goddard just three months ago had her 18 points ahead this week.

And Obama does. Latino leaders have been grinding their teeth for a while now, ever since Obama punted on his promise to tackle immigration reform during his first year in office. This week, he was able to both issue the call for a bipartisan approach and bash Republicans.

So who loses?

Oh, that's easy. The rest of us. Because the border remains a sieve and 11 million people remain in the shadows.