One state isn’t waiting for Washington to solve its illegal immigration problem.   Instead of looking for excuses for failure, they’re looking for real solutions.  I’m Newt Gingrich, more in a moment.

The immigration bill recently defeated in the Senate was written by a permanent governing elite in Washington looking to excuse its failure to control our borders. Their attitude was, the problem is so big and so hard, we’ll just sweep it under the rug for someone else to worry about.

But, Americans being Americans, it’s not surprising that some are no longer waiting for Washington to fix our illegal immigration problem.

One state to watch is Alabama. They’ve created something called the Alabama Patriotic Immigration Commission.

They chose the word “patriotic” deliberately. Patriotic immigration means that immigrants are welcomed as long as they are legal, accounted for, and interested in becoming Americans.

The Alabama Patriotic Immigration Commission is developing a state immigration plan based on a few basic principles.

One is that English is the language of Alabama schools and government.

Another is that the plan must be a set of sustainable, sequential solutions that are acceptable to the majority of Alabamians. In other words, it must do exactly what the Washington immigration bill failed to do.

So kudos to Alabama for taking the initiative. But let’s not forget that protecting our border is a federal responsibility. States can do a lot, but there’s one thing they should not do, and that’s let Washington off the hook.

I’m Newt Gingrich and together we can win the future.