Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Immigration Crisis
As I have posted here over the past week, I have been ill for a while. However, something that hasn't helped my overall demeanor has been the treachery of certain Republicans in the effort to secure our borders, enforce our immigration laws, and save our country. Unfortunately, many of the Senate Republicans have failed on a monumental level to do as they said they would do as recently as the Southern Republican Leadership Conference. (Specifically, I am pointing fingers at Senator Bill Frist, Senator Sam Brownback, and Senator John McCain, who said they weren't in favor of decriminalizing illegal immigrants a month ago but have since changed their tune. Senator George Allen seems to have stayed the course, but he is the exception rather than the rule.)
I have heard the justification for decriminalizing illegal behavior from conservatives (John Norris Brown) and libertarians (Glen Dean) alike. They tout the need to be pragmatic in an effort of winning this large voting block (which, as Rush Limbaugh has pointed out numerous times, will work for the Republicans much like the civil rights movement did - with us doing the heavy lifting and the Democrats taking all of the credit). They tout the amount of work that would have to go into the project of arresting all of the criminals. They tout the potential harm that could come to the nation's economy.
However, they don't talk about the rule of law. The fact is that the behavior these people have chosen to undertake is illegal. There isn't a gray area here. Are there a lot of law breakers out there? Sure. (However, like Rush, I question how in Hades a number like 12 million was calculated, even if it has been seemingly accepted as the number of illegal aliens in the United States by the media and everyone else.) Will they continue to waive the Mexican flag and protest? Undoubtedly. That doesn't change anything.
Let's change the crime. I imagine that there are millions of pedophiles in America. If they started rallying and protesting across the country to have their criminal behavior forgiven, cited their taxpayer status, decried that the have a great economic impact if they are all locked up, and pointed out that it would be a difficult if not impossible task to round them all up, would the same group of Republicans and Democrats rally to their cause?
This has everything to do with the rule of law. It also has ancillary effects on our national security, our social programs, our economy, and - ultimately - our way of life. As conservatives, this also has to do with our principles. I hope that we aren't about "selling out" for votes, but I might be left disappointed in the next few weeks.
This issue isn't going to go away. It is building in momentum, possibly becoming one of those issues that can sway voters one way or the other. It must be addressed, but the amnesty program supported by McCain, Frist, and others isn't the way to go.
I have heard the justification for decriminalizing illegal behavior from conservatives (John Norris Brown) and libertarians (Glen Dean) alike. They tout the need to be pragmatic in an effort of winning this large voting block (which, as Rush Limbaugh has pointed out numerous times, will work for the Republicans much like the civil rights movement did - with us doing the heavy lifting and the Democrats taking all of the credit). They tout the amount of work that would have to go into the project of arresting all of the criminals. They tout the potential harm that could come to the nation's economy.
However, they don't talk about the rule of law. The fact is that the behavior these people have chosen to undertake is illegal. There isn't a gray area here. Are there a lot of law breakers out there? Sure. (However, like Rush, I question how in Hades a number like 12 million was calculated, even if it has been seemingly accepted as the number of illegal aliens in the United States by the media and everyone else.) Will they continue to waive the Mexican flag and protest? Undoubtedly. That doesn't change anything.
Let's change the crime. I imagine that there are millions of pedophiles in America. If they started rallying and protesting across the country to have their criminal behavior forgiven, cited their taxpayer status, decried that the have a great economic impact if they are all locked up, and pointed out that it would be a difficult if not impossible task to round them all up, would the same group of Republicans and Democrats rally to their cause?
This has everything to do with the rule of law. It also has ancillary effects on our national security, our social programs, our economy, and - ultimately - our way of life. As conservatives, this also has to do with our principles. I hope that we aren't about "selling out" for votes, but I might be left disappointed in the next few weeks.
This issue isn't going to go away. It is building in momentum, possibly becoming one of those issues that can sway voters one way or the other. It must be addressed, but the amnesty program supported by McCain, Frist, and others isn't the way to go.
Permalink posted by Rob Huddleston @ 1:15 PM 
