Politicians are a strange lot. On one hand, they spend time making perfectly normal activities illegal, such as smoking in public or eating fatty foods. On the other, they spend even more time trying to reward lawbreaking such as illegal immigration.
In Maryland, some legislators want to reward children of illegal aliens with in-state tuition for spots in Maryland?s colleges and universities.
Immigration has been a touchy issue in America since the Puritans arrived. Or maybe it was the Vikings. In any case, let?s be fair. We?re all immigrants or sons and daughters of immigrants. Even Native Americans originally came from somewhere else. They just beat the rush.
Americans are proud of that immigrant heritage. It?s not a casual thing that the Statue of Liberty says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” But it is not a blanket invitation to everyone, and it certainly shouldn?t be a “Get out of jail free” card once they arrive.
The real immigration problem is there are too many groups looking out for their own best interests and no one has the nerve to just say no. Nationally, businesses need employees.
We have a low unemployment rate, and that counts the 11 million to 12 million immigrants illegally in the United States. To fill that gap, companies and ordinary citizens hire workers who aren?t approved to work here. Those employers deserve part of the blame for the crisis.
So does the federal government, which neither controls the border nor sets up an easy system for employers to verify residency. Government deserves another part of the blame.
Both political parties pander to the Hispanic vote by pushing amnesty plans that again reward people who broke the law with the same citizenship others worked for years to attain legally.
In Maryland, the GOP lacks the power to out-pander the Democrats, so place the local blame mostly on the shoulders of the nearest donkey.
And then there are well-meaning groups such as CASA of Maryland, which says it?s an immigrant rights group, but also defends illegal immigrant rights.
CASA claims there are an estimated 250,000 undocumented workers in Maryland. That?s just the beginning.
The General Assembly and governor look like they will go ahead and reward the illegal activity. The numbers of illegal immigrants will probably grow.
And all of the various groups responsible will just jockey for position instead of addressing the problem.
We already have plenty of blame to go around ? why not a bit more?
Dan Gainor is The Boone Pickens Free Market Fellow at the Media Research Center?s Business & Media Institute, a career journalist and media commentator. He can be reached at [email protected]
