They offer "Bad Border Bill" about HR 4437:
...it would do nothing to rationalize U.S. immigration policy. The Bush administration, which has rightly argued for a more sensible approach, disgracefully got behind the bill.
Many people speculate that the reason why the Bush administration favors a "sensible" approach is because they're corrupt: they do what those large corporations that profit off illegal immigration want them to do.
 would also... require that border patrol uniforms be made in the good ol' USA.
Obviously the use of the phrase "good ol' USA" is meant to mock that provision as playing to patriotism. However, I'm sure the adults out there can think up a reason other than play-acting why that's a good thing. Here's a clue for the WaPo: after the L.A. riots, a large number of LAPD uniforms were stolen, and the LAPD was fearful they would be used by criminals. Similarly, people who actually care about protecting the U.S. from the bad guys don't want the bad guys in Mexico to be able to pass themselves off as BP agents. Makes sense, if you think about it.
But none [of the bill's provisions] will do much to change the fact that 11 million people live illegally in this country, in an economy that cannot function without them. No immigration bill that fails to realistically approach the country's dependence on immigrant labor will fix anything.
I beg to disagree. I think if all those illegal aliens left tomorrow we'd make out OK. We're Americans, right? Sure, there might be some hiccups to start with, but then we'd figure out a way to do things without all that serf labor. For instance, we'd either mechanize produce production, or we'd import strawberries instead of stoop laborers.
They go on to pimp for "comprehensive immigration reform", aka a Kennedy-McCain style amnesty scheme. Perhaps next time the WaPo can think this one through in a bit more depth, like:
- are they sure we need all that cheap serf labor?
- are their major downsides to importing millions of people from a hostile neighboring country?
- isn't the underlying problem that needs to be fixed ideological and political corruption?
- why is the WaPo part of that problem rather than being part of the solution?
Immigration · Thu, 12/29/2005 - 09:48 · Importance: 1