President Bush’s comments yesterday in respect of immigration reached us only a few days after a visit to the New York Sun by three newly reelected Republican congressmen.

One was Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Hispanic American from a congressional district in South Florida that includes many immigrants. He was a strong backer of Mr. Bush’s ideas for letting more immigrants work legally in America. “Are we going to deport 8 million people? I don’t think so,” said Mr. Diaz-Balart, who warned that if Republicans don’t take the immigrant friendly approach championed by Mr. Bush, “we’re not going to be a majority party.”

More skeptical was Congressman King, who represents Western Iowa. “I just don’t have confidence that the administration is going to enforce the law,” he said. Without that, Mr. Bush’s proposal to expand foreign-worker programs and increase the numbers of legal immigrants to America becomes “just another magnet,” said Mr. King. The Iowan said he wants to remove federal tax deductibility for wages and benefits paid to illegal workers, turning the IRS into the enforcement agency for immigration laws.

The third congressman, Tom Cole, is a member of the Chickasaw Nation and one of only two Native Americans in the House. “As far as I’m concerned, all you guys are illegal aliens,” he joked. Mr. Cole, who is from Moore, Okla., said that each group of immigrants has added more to America than they have taken from it. “People coming here are valuable additions to this country,” he said. “An anti-immigrant party has never succeeded in a country of immigrants.” Said Mr. Cole, “At the end of the day, the time to worry about the United States of America is when nobody wants to come here.”

That even warmed up Mr. King to the point where he noted that immigrants who fled tyranny are potential allies of a Republican Party that stands for liberty at home and abroad. “Immigrants who come here know why they left the country they came from,” he said. All of which put us in mind of the thought that Mr. Bush’s strong showing in Brooklyn and Queens in the recent election may be in part the result of his support among immigrants from the lands of the old Soviet Union.

As for Mr. Bush himself, our guess is that on this issue he is being misunderestimated. After meeting with the president of Mexico yesterday, he said: “We spent a great deal of time talking about the immigration issue.” He added: “I told President Fox that I had campaigned on this issue; I made it very clear my position that we need to make sure that where there’s a willing worker and a willing employer, that that job ought to be filled legally in cases where Americans will not fill that job,” Mr. Bush said. “I explained to the president that we share a mutual concern to make sure our border is secure. One way to make sure the border is secure is to have reasonable immigration policies.”

There are plenty of reasons to support sharply increased legal immigration to America. There are economic reasons, given that the supply of workers and customers is good for business. There are moral reasons, America at its best having always served as a refuge to those fleeing oppression and seeking freedom and opportunity. There are security reasons, since an immigration policy based on the rule of law rather than the flouting of the law may make it harder for terrorists to infiltrate America.

But listening to Mr. Diaz-Balart talk about immigration as an issue that will determine whether Republicans emerge as a majority party, and listening to Mr. Bush speak of it as an issue that he “campaigned on,” make it clear that the political dimension of immigration is as lively as the economic, moral, and security dimensions. The Democratic Party’s outreach to Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants in the 20th century ushered in decades of Democratic dominance of Congress and big-city mayoralties. If the Republicans are able to resolve their internal differences and follow through on Mr. Bush’s ideas, they will be able to position themselves for similar gains with the immigrants of the 21st century.