Who Has To Respect The Laws?

Victor Davis Hanson has some common sense things to say about illmigrants and their relationship with the law and the broader question about lawlessness.

The subject of illegal immigration is, above all, a matter of law enforcement.

Ultimately, no nation can continue to thrive if its government refuses to enforce its own laws. Liberal “sanctuary cities” such as San Francisco choose to ignore immigration laws. Imagine the outcry if a town in Utah or Montana arbitrarily declared that federal affirmative action or gay marriage laws were null and void within its municipal borders.

If federal immigration law does not apply to foreign nationals, why should building codes, zoning laws, or traffic statutes apply to U.S. citizens?

Mexico v Iraq

Given the horrible human rights violations and tyranny that is imposed by Muslim extremists and the US's abandonment of the region, why is the left not equally concerned about the women, children, homosexuals and Christians in the Middle East?

Often those who speak out against illegal immigration are dismissed as racist xenophobes who don't care about the welfare of those who are entering the US illegally. Those who speak out are concerned about overburdening schools and other public services and the associated fiscal impacts. They also wonder about the cultural effects that may result from such a large influx of non-legal pilgrims - not that Octoberfest will be canceled, but that a culture of disrespect for law and order might prevail. But no matter, they are dismissed as mean-spirited, greedy, hateful and selfish. However, those same people who favor open borders tend to oppose any intervention in Middle Eastern countries. They complain that too much money (greed?) is spent on behalf of a people who culturally are not up to the task of western democracy (bigotry?). Even though the human rights violations are on par with Nazism, they say that we have our own problems (selfish?). Women are treated like animals, homosexuals are murdered and those who don't convert or leave are literally stoned, tortured or crucified. Why are some favored for an outpouring of American compassion and tax dollars while others aren't? Is this a moral way to distribute compassion? Is something else at play?

Don't Wait To Immigrate

On The Border

Granted, this is pretty rich humor. But it could have been so much better if hordes of Central American chiquillos were running past in the background. And if he could have knocked a laptop off the lectern while gesticulating so that the hard drive popped out and shattered followed by a dryly delivered, "Oh. I guess those emails have been lost too.", that would have been icing on the cake. That would have been comedy gold. But I'll give him props for a straight delivery.

There is no way in hell this issue will be resolved before election day. This is political manna from heaven. Anybody who does anything other than coddle and suckle these poor children will be painted as not just a racist (because expecting people to obey the law is inherently racist), but a horrible, heartless sub-human who hates children and wants to feed them to the wolves or catapult them into a fiery furnace. Its one thing to want to deport adults or push granny and her wheelchair over a cliff. But to want to drive busloads of children into the river or turn them over to drug lords - who just happen to be armed with some pretty sweet US supplied toasters? Oh the humanity.

If the buses weren't bought and paid for by Reid and his friends, they should have been, because this is political genius. When faced with answering for spying on the press, the Bergdahl-Gitmo house cleaning, the law is whatever I say it is, murder for movies, the VA crap care is what you can expect for all, "if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it", IRS thuggery, the mysterious hard drive massacre - just to name a few - its just a lot easier to say that your opponents want to deport these dear, innocent, little lambs. The choice is pretty simple - those other guys just hate brown children.

That and another October surprise that shuts down your favorite park, museum or fishing hole, and this could turn out to be a pretty good year for Harry's friends.

Saving the kiddos FTW.

Central American Child Exodus

The left leaning Vox has provided some more of their "explanatory journalism" for the child illmigrant crisis at the US southern border. (Harsanyi discusses their left-ness)



The transcript:

Central America is in the midst of what the world recognizes as a humanitarian crisis. Criminal gangs are taking over much of the region and a civilian was more likely to be murdered in one of these countries over the last several years, than to be killed in Iraq during the height of the insurgency. Those gangs are recruiting young teenagers and if a teenager resists recruitment, will threaten, injure or even kill the teenager or family members.

As a result many teenagers and younger children are choosing to leave their home countries and seek asylum elsewhere in the region. They're going to Mexico, to Costa Rica, to Nicaragua and many of them are going to the United States. Since October 1st of last year, 52,000 children unaccompanied by adults have been apprehended by Border Patrol and that's not counting the tens of thousands of mothers who are bringing their children into the United States to flee as well.

Of course having so many people coming to the country, admittedly without papers, is causing a lot of controversy. Part of this is because they have strained the system which was built under the Bush administration to deal with 6,000 to 8,000 kids coming across the border alone every year, not 52,000.

But part of it because some would like the border to be force field to be able to automatically refuse anyone who doesn't have proper papers for being able to set foot in the United States. But there are very good reasons that the border isn't a force field. US law has an established process so that when someone comes across the border and doesn't have papers but fears for their life, there can be a way to determine if they're eligible for asylum or another form of humanitarian relief. But that is the system that is currently being overwhelmed.

So the question facing the United States right now is how far are we willing to go in the name of immigration enforcement without undermining the humanitarian commitment that if you fear persecution and you escape to America, we will try to find a place for you.

The impulse to help those less fortunate and in need is a wonderful and noble desire. I just wonder why this same concern is missing from the Iraq and Afghanistan debates? One can argue about why we got mixed up in that part of the world in the first place (President Clinton prehaps? Or the Democratic votes in the Senate?), but why are we abandoning those women and girls to their particular horrors?

Why are they any less deserving? Only because they aren't lucky enough to share a border with us?

Obama's Surge

Michelle Malkin discusses the flood of illmigrants that are coming to a military base near you.

The Daily Mail also discusses the issue.

Contest Racism

From the official rules:

PROMOTION OPEN ONLY TO INDIVIDUAL UNITED STATES CITIZENS AND LAWFUL PERMANENT U.S. RESIDENTS WHO ARE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE FIFTY (50) UNITED STATES, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND PUERTO RICO...

Hmm. Does that make the contest racist like those who want voter ID are racist?

Taxation Without Representation

Millions of illegal immigrants are getting a bigger tax refund than you. Eyewitness News shows a massive tax loophole that provides billions of dollars in tax credits to undocumented workers and, in many cases, people who have never stepped foot in the United States. And you are paying for it!



And there probably isn't any voter fraud either. Oh, wait...

Cheap Labor

Is the myth of cheap labor just transferring the costs to the public at large? Is it a case of pay me now or pay me later? That is, if we paid more for the goods and services that are produced with "cheap labor" now, could we avoid much of the socialized spending later?

Dick Lamm has a good article on this here. He articulately and thoughtfully examines some of the cost multipliers of "cheap" illegal labor. Its an oldie but a goodie.

Defenders of illegal immigrants call any and all concern about this issue “racist,” and attempt to take the issue completely off the table.

To continue to tolerate this practice is not only a legal issue; it is morally unfair to those waiting to come legally.

But that is not to say it is “cheap labor”. It may be “cheap” to those who pay the wages, but for the rest of us it is clearly “subsidized” labor, as we taxpayers pick up the costs of education, health, and other municipal costs imposed by this workforce.

The very people that liberals profess to speak for and care about pay the price in lost and suppressed wages while employers get the benefits of reduced wages.

The health care cost of this illegal workforce is also significant and also subsidized by U.S. taxpayers.

I have been fighting all my life for universal health care, but we can't have “the best health care system in the world” combined with Swiss cheese borders.

Ironically, the price of compassion is restriction.

By tolerating illegal immigration are we laying the foundations for a new Hispanic underclass?

You may have seen emails circulating around the internet that tick off the hidden costs to cheap labor. Some of the hidden costs to cheap labor include:

• Earned Income Credit
• Section 8 housing
• Food Stamps
• School breakfast and lunch
• Bilingual education
• Energy bill assistance
• Emergency room healthcare
• No car/life/homeowner's insurance
• SSI
• Medicare/Medicaid

Instead of paying for these items at the point of purchase in the form of higher prices for goods and services, these costs are paid through higher taxation. The costs will eventually be paid. But instead of paying them directly through the private transaction in a free market, they will be paid through a governmental income transfer.

If redistribution through taxation is the model one desires, then the status quo is an excellent way to achieve it.

Illmigrant

ill•mi•grant
noun
Somebody who enters a country illegally but is described by the left as an immigrant, migrant worker, undocumented worker, undocumented Americans, would-be Americans, irregulars, irregular immigrants, unauthorized entrant, unauthorized migrants or undocumented job-seekers.