Escondido and others have it wrong on immigration

tons of comments

“Warning: This column takes issue with a half-baked “solution,” and thus will likely elicit angry letters accusing the author of “supporting illegal immigration.” And since the author is Mexican-American, some readers may charge that he is “trying to bring over relatives.” There are those who claim the in-vogue idea of municipalities banning landlords from renting to illegal immigrants is cruel, inhumane and heavy-handed. But, for me, the real problem with such bans is that they’re dishonest, misdirected, and destined to fail.

Dishonest because these measures — approved by officials in Escondido, Calif., Hazleton, Pa., and, last week, Farmers Branch, Texas — feed this notion of an invasion, as if the good people of City X or Town Y were minding their own business and, suddenly, off in the distance, comes an army of Mexican immigrants. It couldn’t be that these “good people” are hiring illegal immigrants or excusing those who hire them.”

Comments are closed.