The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal have penned yet another ridiculous anti-immigration reform piece. Here is a taste:For the past two decades, border enforcement has been the main focus of immigration policy; by any measure, the results are pitiful. According to the Migration Policy Institute, "The number of unauthorized migrants in the United States has risen to almost 11 million from about four million over the past 20 years, despite a 519% increase in funding and a 221% increase in staffing for border patrol programs."I can understand, and support, legal immigration and the economic benefits of a guest worker program. The problem is that until the border is secured, this plan has absolutely zero chance of being effective. Until the possibility of coming here illegally is deterred, there is no reason for the immigrant to be made to come here legally. The issue isn't that we don't want the workers contributing to our economy (and I'm not convinced that the illegals are contributing all that much; in fact, I believe that the availablity of cheap, illegal labor has hindered American ingeniuty), but rather the reality of a post-9/11 world is that we have no idea who is here and what they are up to...
Given that record, it's hard to see the House Republican bill as much more than preening about illegal immigration. The legislation is aimed at placating a small but vocal constituency that wants the borders somehow sealed, come what may to the economy, American traditions of liberty or the Republican Party's relationship with the increasingly important Latino vote.
That last sentence is the one that really bothers me. If the Journal's position is that by erecting a fence America will cut off a vital segment of our economy, they should just say so without all the stereotypical "fake but accurate" nonsense we are used to hearing from liberal media outlets. That the Journal continues to not understand Congressman Tancredo or the segment of the American population that wants to secure our borders after 9/11 is a testiment to the inability of the Journal to really report the real story.
America's enemies want to see us destroyed. If they get the chance to take a shot, they will. America's traditions of liberty are what the enemy dispises about us. They hate that we are a rich country with an economy that is booming andshowing no signs of letting up. And the relationship that Republicans have with the Latino population has no bearing on this legislation at all. Imagine if the next attack on American soil comes from across the Mexican border. Who do you think the mental midgets of the Journal's editorial board will blame? Surely not themselves, but they and those who think like them, are definitely part of the problem.
