The Republicans in Albany are preparing a series of steps designed to signal a welcome to immigrants, according to a report in Friday’s New York Sun by our William F. Hammond Jr. Sure enough, Governor Pataki promptly announced his support for allowing undocumented aliens to receive the same discount on City University of New York tuition as legal citizens of the state. And, according to Senator Pedro Espado Jr. of the Bronx, other measures being considered in Albany under the rubric of immigrant-friendliness include tax credits for developers of low-income housing and the end of a requirement of U.S. citizenship for New York City public school teachers.

The idea of politicians of any party embracing immigrants suits us just fine. New York is a city of immigrants. America is a nation of immigrants. The war against terror has taught us all to be wary of enemies taking advantage of our history as an immigrant country. But the continued flow from foreign countries of strivers coming here to make new lives for themselves is one of the things that makes this country and this city great. America is a vastly under-populated country, and the parts of the country that have been the most receptive to immigrants — Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, New York, South Florida — have also been the ones most blessed with prosperity and economic growth.

But the measures being bruited about Albany under the pro-immigrant banner are of a sort that make us wary. They might well damage immigrants, and the rest of us, more than they help. Winking at illegal immigrants by granting them an in-state tuition discount, for instance, sends exactly the wrong message about the rule of law. The current levels of legal immigration are far too low, but the way to address that is by changing the law, not giving a discount to the law-breakers. Any other policy ends up penalizing those who play by the existing rules, waiting years overseas for permission to come to America legally.

The question of a citizenship requirement for public school teachers is a bit more complicated. Some of America’s greatest teachers have been foreigners. But in the public schools, it’s worth bearing in mind that the students of those alien teachers are likely to be either immigrants or children of immigrants. If they are to be educated for success in America, they should have teachers who possess the desire and the basic civic knowledge to become naturalized American citizens.

As for the development of low-income housing, here the best thing Albany could do would be not to carve out another tax credit for “low-income housing,” the creation of which has ruined many of New York’s immigrant neighborhoods. The best thing would be to relax the regime of rent controls, rent stabilization and onerous environmental, health and safety regulations that have discouraged both the creation of new housing and the rehabilitation of the existing stock. The making of an America that is more receptive to immigration is a project for government at the federal level; the founders delegated the authority to Congress. The simplest way to do it would be to raise the quotas so as to let more immigrants into the country. If the Republicans in Albany want to help, they could lean on their colleagues in Congress.