Abe Rosenthal and Illegal Immigration

On the passing of Abe Rosenthal this week, I’m reminded of a column he wrote back in June 1993 following the arrival of the Golden Venture into NY harbor with a group of undocumented immigrants from Fujian Province, China. Rosenthal, the former managing editor of the NY Times, defended the Fujian refugees who were arrested and roundly chastised for attempting to break the immigration laws. He argued that these individuals were simply seeking freedom, and that Americans should welcome them. In fact, we should “give them a parade!”

Finally, in the past several weeks, we’ve witnessed parades in their honor as well as for other undocumented immigrants simply entering to better their lives.

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