Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Let's Have An Honest Debate

I've visited Arizona a couple of times and absolutely love the state. That doesn't mean I can relate to how physically or economically threatened its citizens feel by the presence of illegal immigrants. Seventy per cent of Arizonans apparently feel the need for a stronger crackdown outlined in a bill just signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer. Senator John McCain had been considered a more moderate advocate of immigration reform up through the 2008 election, but he now seems to see this as a bigger crisis than before. I caught a bit of the Dan Yorke Show on WPRO out of Providence today. Some callers were suggesting extreme measures like moving all our military bases to the 2000 mile border with Mexico and turning the closed bases into wind farms. Yorke made a valid point when he claimed that the governor and many other proponents of the new law were not being totally honest when they say it does not mean racial (more accurately ethnic) profiling by authorities. Of course it does. If it's not profiling, does that mean everyone who doesn't "look" or "sound" Hispanic may also be asked to show they are not an undocumented alien? If you think profiling is fine, at least you're being honest when you support what's happening in Arizona. No matter what side of immigration debate you come down on, the failure of Congress to act has been a key reason we face what we do today.

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