The gang of eight beat Obama to the punch, with the bipartisan group of Senators unveiling the four principles of immigration reform today (you can see them here).

But none of the reforms kick in until one principle is acted upon:

“Our legislation will provide a tough, fair, and practical roadmap to address the status of 

unauthorized immigrants in the United States that is contingent upon our success in securing 

our borders and addressing visa overstays.”

And how will that success be determined?

By a group of border governors and attorneys general:

“Our legislation will create a commission 

comprised of governors, attorneys general, and community leaders living along the 

Southwest border to monitor the progress of securing our border and to make a 

recommendation regarding when the bill’s security measures outlined in the legislation are 

completed.”

The Gang of Eight’s proposal is a fair one, but what will this commission use to determine that border security is sufficient?

That’s the devil in the details.