Sunday, April 30, 2006

Debra Saunders on Immigration Protests

Before I link to Newsalert's snippet of Saunders' article, I have to ask: is there really anyone (besides Pat Buchanan) who is against immigration? Are there still people who do not understand the difference between legal immigration and illegal immigration?

Will the nutjobs who are stoking these protests admit that it's possible, just possible, for Americans to want our borders respected and our laws obeyed and not be racists?

Now, Debra.

The bottom line is that while these demonstrations, I am told, are supposed to make me feel better about illegal immigrants, I feel angry when I see thousands of people who knowingly break American law, yet somehow feel entitled to do so and outraged that they have not been sufficiently rewarded for it.

And I'm someone who wants to find a compromise that accommodates working families that have put down roots in California.

Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., represents a district that includes suburbanites angry about the lack of enforcement, as well as agricultural interests desperate for guest workers. As he sees it, the recent protests, especially marches that featured the Mexican flag, "really did harden up people's positions. It really politicized the whole issue. It took away any hope we have of having a workable policy."

Now: "I don't think that there's a political solution that makes sense from a policy standpoint that can possibly come out of this."

Even Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer has told demonstrators that while she supports their right to boycott, the demonstrators have made their point, and now it's time to cool it.


I heart Debra. She thinks clearly.

2 comments:

Ellen K said...

*Heavy Sigh*
I am so damned sick and tired of this debate already. Dallas County's Parkland Hospital, which has to admit everyone regardless of insurance, ability to pay or legal status, will ask for yet another $10MILLION this year. That is to make up for the uninsured that use the award winning emergency rooms as a primary care physician. They don't have insurace because they are here illegally. More than half the live births are Hispanic children. Parkland has one of the highest birthrates in the United States. At $10,00 minimum for an uncomplicated live birth, if you do the math we will never see the end of it. And that's just medical services and doesn't include education, free lunches and numerous other services that private groups provide. I see people from Vietnam and China and Pakistan that have so little in common with the American experience, BUT their kids learn English. And the parents dont' demand to be treated any differently than any other citizen. And that is where the big disconnect seems to occur. What makes the Mexicans think they are better than everyone else? It is just annoying.

Anonymous said...

If we can trust polls -- and that's a big if -- then the "demonstration" backfired on the illegals in a big way.