Some bad cats who oppose true immigration reform are—at last!—retiring from the U.S. Senate.

Other incumbents, many dragged down by their pro-illegal alien stances, face a steep uphill climb in their 2008 re-election efforts.

U.S. Senators are, taken as a whole, old verging on ancient. Several of them are ill or have recently recovered from serious medical conditions.

Even if they were young and healthy, they have served their country poorly and consistently opposed their constituents' will.

Can you think of better news than the nation ridding itself of these pompous elitists?

As the old saying goes, "Don't let the door hit you on your way out!"

Officially gone are:

Republicans

• Nebraska's Chuck Hagel whose Senate record on immigration is worse than John McCain's. Compare their grades here and here.

With Florida's Sen. Mel Martinez, Hagel co-sponsored S. 2611 that would have amnestied 10 million aliens and allowed another 5 million family members to join their newly legalized relatives.

Nebraska residents who have lost thousands of meat packing jobs to illegal immigrants are increasingly opposed to pro-immigration legislators.

Even a beloved local football hero, former University of Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne, lost his bid for the governor's seat because he favored in-state tuition rates for illegal aliens. [Nebraskans Show Immigration Frustration, By Scott Bauer, Associated Press, May 31, 2006]

• New Mexico's Pete Domenici, 76 on election day 2008, who cried buckets of crocodile tears in support of "comprehensive immigration reform" about an incident (unrelated to the current invasion) his grandmother endured sixty-years ago.

In addition to battling a degenerative brain disease, Domenici is looking over his shoulder at a brewing scandal regarding the role he may have played in the firing of Albuquerque's U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias.

• Virginia's John Warner is throwing in the towel. Warner has been more bad than good on his immigration votes, favoring chain migration, amnesty and opposing border enforcement.

Warner, in his retirement speech, noted that he would "be near 88 at the end of another six-year term." [Virginia GOP Senator To Retire, By Robin Toner, New York Times, September 1, 2007]

Toughing it out, often against long odds, are:

Republicans:

• Florida's Mel Martinez who recently resigned from his post as Chairman of the Republican National Committee to forge an all-out effort aimed at reversing his sinking poll numbers— currently at 37 percent down from 50 percent eight months ago.

Irate Floridians, reflecting the state's attitude toward the shamelessly pro-amnesty Martinez, have mounted a recall effort against him. Imagine how bad the Cuban-born Martinez must be if he's lost Florida's backing despite the state's largely Republican Cubans. 

• South Carolina's Lindsey Graham, hovering around a 30 percent approval rating, is paying the price for his outrageous anti-American comments and his blind backing of "comprehensive immigration reform." According to South Carolina political analysts, Graham will be lucky to avoid a vigorous primary challenge.

Whoever Graham's opponent may be, he'll have plenty of fodder including some of these remarks the sitting Senator made: to La Raza, "No group owns being an American," "We're going to tell the bigots to shut up," and, referring to Kennedy's work on amnesty "I don't do this much but I want to thank   Ted Kennedy." See the YouTube video here.

• Idaho's Larry Craig—will he retire or will he subject himself to the humiliation of a re-election effort? Either way, Craig is most likely gone—and good riddance. 

Only California Senator Dianne Feinstein (sadly, not up for re-election until 2012) can match Craig in his unrelenting pursuit of an agricultural worker amnesty. Craig's addiction to cheap labor came back to haunt him in his recent bathroom scandal. Few Idahoans rallied to his defense, some pointing to his pro-amnesty position as a reason they would be glad to be rid of him.

• Alaska's Ted Stevens would be 93 if he won and served out his eighth term. Stevens is terrible on immigration especially on crucially important interior enforcement.

Add to Stevens' dismal immigration record, his infamous "bridge to nowhere" scandal and the current FBI and IRS investigations into possible corruption charges and he looks like a goner. [Mr. Stevens's Tirade, Editorial, Washington Post, October 23, 2005]

The crotchety Stevens was recently caught on video tape scurrying down the Senate hallway insisting on his innocence after the feds ransacked his house and confiscated potential evidence for its case against him.

• Maine's Susan Collins serves the nation's only sanctuary state. Based on her last minute conversion from "yea" in 2006 to "nay" in 2007 on an amnesty cloture vote, Collins may not be trustworthy on immigration, a hot topic in her state. Collins, a centrist, faces a tough re-election fight in Democratic leaning Maine.

• Minnesota's Norm Coleman, like Collins, switched his position on amnesty this spring by reversing his 2006 "yea" vote on cloture. And, as in Maine, immigration is a crucial issue since Minnesota is becoming overwhelmed with refugees from Somalia and even Mexico!

A warning note to any potential candidate: over-enthusiastic support of more immigration cost St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly his job.

In May, Coleman's approval rating slipped below 50 percent for the first time since he took office.

DEMOCRATS:

• New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg , like Stevens a Senate appointee, would be 92 if he runs, wins and completes his term. Lautenberg is on the bottom of the barrel on immigration.

His notorious "Lautenberg Amendment" that grants automatic refugee status to residents of the former Soviet Union has been thoroughly exposed by VDARE.COM's Thomas Allen. Since the inception of the "Lautenberg Amendment" nearly 500,000 FSU refugees have entered the U.S.

To boot, Lautenberg has voted in favor of every amnesty and foreign worker visa he's ever seen.

• Michigan's Carl Levin, tied with Teddy Kennedy for last place among Senate Democrats, Levin would be 82 if he runs, wins and stays the course for what would be his sixth term.

• South Dakota's Tim Johnson is likely gone from the Senate either because of retirement or a probable defeat in his re-election effort. In 2002, Johnson won office by only 524 votes.

Like most other Senate Democrats, Johnson is hideous on immigration with a pro-amnesty voting record second to none.

Encouragingly, in 2004 South Dakotans demonstrated a preference for immigration reform by electing, in a big upset, Republican John Thune. The former Congressman, a strong anti-immigration ally, won over pro-amnesty Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle

To add to the probability of his exit, Johnson is recovering from a brain hemorrhage that has left him paralyzed on his right side. [8 Months After He Was Stricken, A Slowed Senator Returns, Associated Press, August 29, 2007]

With the Congressional approval rating currently standing at about 20 percent, every incumbent is vulnerable.

One thing is certain: we're on verge of getting rid of at least a handful of bad actors on immigration.

And it is impossible to imagine how they could be replaced with anyone worse.

Joe Guzzardi [e-mail him] is the Editor of VDARE.COM Letters to the Editor. In addition, he is an English teacher at the Lodi Adult School and has been writing a weekly newspaper column since 1988. This column is exclusive to VDARE.COM.