NSN.- Sen. Rand Paul spoke last Tuesday at US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce endorsing comprehensive immigration reform, according to a recent post by a local fiance Visa lawyer. The last politician to speak so fluently and so affectionately about immigrants and their culture was President George W. Bush. That will freak out anti-immigration activists, but it is a good sign that staunch conservatism is in no way incompatible with a pro-immigration policy outlook.

In prepared remarks he recollected, “I lived, worked, played and grew up alongside Latinos. As a teenager I worked alongside immigrants mowing lawns and putting in landscaping around businesses.” And he powerfully rejected the notion that immigrants come looking for a handout: “Growing up in Texas, I never met a Latino who wasn’t working. . . . The Republican Party has insisted for years that we stand for freedom and family values. I am most proud of my party when it stands for both. The vast majority of Latino voters Republican National Committee report, he stated, “Somewhere along the line Republicans have failed to understand and articulate that immigrants are an asset to America, not a liability.”

He appealed to such voters with an embrace of education, something both President Bush and his brother Jeb have done. (“For the American Dream to be achievable for all, we have to have an educational system that believes that all students have the capability to succeed. Unfortunately, the education establishment seems to casually discard Latinos, blacks, and others into crummy schools with no hope. I argue that the struggle for a good education is the civil rights issue of our day.”)