I spent the weekend hearing various folks talk about the latest (illegal) immigration flap. It was a little disconcerting to hear the left against helping poor people (e.g. “these people are stealing jobs from honest americans”) and the right for helping poor people (e.g. temporary work visas and some program to “legalize” those already here).

Frankly, I think there’s an ugly racist subtext to the whole debate. Almost everyone is talking about aliens crossing the Mexican border and almost no one is talking about: 1. The fact that potential terrorists have crossed the Canadian border and 2. The fact that a significant chunk of illegal immigrants (that is, aliens without a valid visa or work permit) come from Europe. So far, the only person I’ve heard talk about that is John McCain.

So here’s an intellectual puzzle for you: Why is it okay for trade to cross the borders without restriction (i.e. NAFTA), but not workers? Discuss amongst yourselves

4/3/2006 9:44:30 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)      Comments [0]  politics