I generally avoid addressing serious topics on this blog because I find it more fun to write about boobies than to write about people dying in Iraq.
But this immigration issue has me fired up. Because it seems like common sense somehow seeped into our government for a few hours and some Senators wrote a bill that will solve a problem without being overly punitive.
Through all the vitriol spouted on this issue by Bill O'Reilly (whom I now love), Lou Dobbs (whom I now hate) and Pa Beers (still undecided on him), I always advocated for a reasonable solution.
We needed to prevent people from pouring into this country and living off the fat of the land without contributing anything. I don't view it as much of a national security issue because few terrorists come from Mexico. I also don't think the country needs to go into lockdown everytime an illegal commits a crime. I don't believe in a national language, etc, etc.
But I do admit there was a problem. So the new plan is this, stop people from getting here so often and so easily and then deal with the people who are here.
Bill, Lou and Pa Beers wanted angry mobs with pitchforks to herd illegals on the bus and ship them back to Omaha, and they don't even live there.
A more reasoned approach is this: Let's find the illegals who are here, and get them in the system. Sign them up to work hard and pay taxes. For the large majority of them that's all they wanted anyway.
3 comments:
One Time Amnesty has been tried repeatedly by the government since 1986. At no time since then has this country learned to control the flood of illegals (hence the millions of new illegals).
What about this common sense program takes care of the stopping future illegals??
Plus, why should people who broke the law get special treatment ahead of the people waiting in line.
Citizenship is a special privilege, not a right for any foreign national who wants it.
Paul, you're a very smart guy. But on this topic, I continue to feel that you're dead wrong.
According to CNN, under this program the number of Border Patrol agents would double, border fencing would be strengthened and employers who hire undocumented workers would face fines. To me those are pretty solid steps toward preventing future illegal immigration.
I agree with the theory behind Brian's comment re: the apparent injustice of "special treatment" for people who broke the law. But I think the greater injustice is the millions of children of undocument aliens that are growing up in the US without proper health care and education, etc.
As Paul points out, this proposal, although far from perfect, does a good job of getting those families in the system (presumably improving their quality of life) but also clamps down on future illegals.
I'm with Paul 100% on this one, except for his comment re: Bill O'Reilly, whom I think is possibly the biggest blowhard this side of Rush Limbaugh.
The people who broke the law aren't getting special treatment, they have to return home to apply for a new visa and pay a $5,000 fine, both of which will prove to be extreme hardships for many.
Even if you don't love this plan, you have to recognize that this is about the best you are going to get.
As for O'Reilly, I agree with him 50% of the time. I love his segments on pedophiles, the liberal media and the body language segment. I hate his segments on immigration, abortion and other issues when he panders to his conservative base such as when he said "you can poke holes in the theory of evolution." But he doesn't take himself seriously, and if you don't either, you will hear from him views and angles that you won't hear anywhere else on cable news.
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