January 05, 2005

Another spurned comic book reader

From the Dallas Morning News editorial "No Humor in Comic: Advice on breaking U.S. law is ill-advised":

Thought experiment: What if the U.S. government produced a comic-book-style pamphlet ("Illegal Immigration and Remittances For Dummies") for Americans headed to Mexico, advising them how to break Mexican laws safely and successfully? We'd never hear the end of the outrage. And we shouldn't, because it would be outrageous...

... The feds have long been soft on enforcement at the Mexican border, in part because American families and U.S. business interests depend on cheap migrant labor. If the booklet teaches Mexicans how to exploit the United States, our lax enforcement teaches American employers how to exploit illegal Mexicans.

We support President Bush's steps toward immigration reform, specifically his guest-worker proposal that would give migrant workers a chance at a three-year visa and, ultimately, a place in line toward citizenship. He risks angering many in his own party, and we applaud his courage.

We also recognize that the illegal immigration issue is vast and complex, with no cheap or easy solutions. A foreign government printing a how-to booklet for its citizens to sneak in and break our laws does not help.

Compare this with the recent Arizona Republic editorial. Both editorials seem to be mainly criticizing Mexico for a tactical blunder.

Posted to Immigration2005a at January 5, 2005 05:57 PM

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