Commentary on Russell Pearce

Interesting commentary by Robert Robb of the Arizona Republic:

“There are a couple of points to be made about the Russell Pearce flaps last week over the use of the term “Operation Wetback” and the forwarding of an article from a racist group to an e-mail list.

The first is that Pearce doesn’t represent mainstream thinking even among immigration restrictionists.

Pearce actually believes that the solution to illegal immigration is to round up illegals for mass deportations. I’ve been on a panel with him and heard him say that very thing.

Mainstream restrictionists, for example at the Center for Immigration Studies, instead propose a policy they call attrition.

According to this analysis, if illegal immigrants made a rational decision to come to this country, they can make a rational decision to leave or to stop coming. So, instead of roundups and mass deportations, change the incentives through strict work-eligibility verification requirements and steady enforcement pressure.

The second is that passing on an article without reading it is very characteristic of Pearce. He is frequently only partially informed.

In fact, the real story is that Pearce as leader of the immigration restrictionist movement in Arizona is an unfortunate example of the Peter Principle applied.
• I don’t support the attrition approach. I favor a pathway to citizenship for those currently here illegally and I don’t flinch at calling it amnesty.” Click here.

bh