Some Common Sense on Immigration

Here is some common sense coming from Arizona, which has seeen its share of immigration hysteria in recent months, if not years. Jeremy Dowell, a community editorial page editor with the Arizona Republic penned the following column entitled “Nationalism won’t solve illegal immigration.”  Here is a snippet:

Nationalism is a dangerous thing. Militant nationalism even more so. That’s probably the most disturbing aspect of the current “debate” over illegal immigration. Some Americans favor building a wall on our southern border. Others want to deploy the military. Some even advocate massive roundups of suspected illegal aliens – no matter how likely such a roundup is to trample on the Constitutional rights of American Hispanics. After all, how does one differentiate an “illegal Hispanic” from an American Hispanic without demanding proof of citizenship? Those who think mass roundups and deportations sound reasonable should imagine how they would feel if they were challenged by a police officer to produce proof of American citizenship while walking down the street, or shopping with their families or otherwise minding their own business. Such a program would be racist and un-American. And it would solve nothing. Illegal immigration is primarily an economic issue. America has more jobs and opportunities than countries to our south. People migrate from those countries to America for the same reason anyone has ever come here – to carve out better lives for themselves and their families.

For the rest, click here.  Not surprisingly, the comments currently are running 3-1 against the views expressed by Dowell.

KJ