SAN DIEGO -- Newt Gingrich believes that Americans could solve the problem of illegal immigration in a practical and humane way if we can get the politicians and the news media to just deal with it honestly.
Bravo. When the former House speaker made those remarks during a recent GOP presidential debate he zeroed in on precisely what is wrong with the immigration debate.Its not that Americans -- and those who represent them in Washington -- are too lenient or too tough. Its that theyre too reluctant to confront the issue honestly.
There are numerous lies in the immigration debate -- this isnt about racism; Americans would gladly do the jobs that immigrants do for the right wage; all employers are greedy and exploit their workers; Americans dont want to limit legal immigration etc.
The biggest lies come from politicians who pretend to be something theyre not. Republicans talk tough but go soft on employers by creating loopholes and granting delays and exemptions to enforcement efforts. Democrats talk soft but pander to working-class Americans and union bosses by ratcheting up deportations building walls and launching border crackdowns as when Bill Clinton launched Operation Gatekeeper in October 1994.
Now Gingrich says: Enough of that. To combat illegal immigration we have to start leveling with the American people.
CNNs John King the debate moderator asked Gingrich if we should deport millions of illegal immigrants or provide some path to status for the undocumented.
Gingrich -- who is fun to watch because he has the skills to slug it out with fellow candidates with one hand and lash out at the moderator with the other -- wasnt having any of it.
One of the reasons this country is in so much trouble is that we are determined among our political elites to draw up catastrophic alternatives he lectured. You either have to ship 20 million people out of America or legalize all of them.
Nonsense Gingrich asserted. First control the border by using the National Guard or reassigning to the border the current Department of Homeland Security bureaucracy in Washington. But he said the larger point is that no serious citizen whos concerned about solving this problem should get trapped into a yes/no answer in which youre either for totally selling out protecting America or youre for totally kicking out 20 million people in a heartless way.
That is grown-up talk and I frankly have to wonder how it made its way into a presidential campaign. Still that answer was only good enough to earn the former history professor a grade of B-minus.
Thats much better than the F Id give to Tim Pawlenty who in addressing the topic sounded as if he were reading from a copy of GOP Immigration Policy for Dummies. The former Minnesota governor repeated the line about how the federal government wont do its job and said that states like Arizona have the right to police themselves. Had he been more honest Pawlenty could have acknowledged that the Obama administration has deported nearly 1 million people and that Arizona brought this problem onto itself by all but recruiting illegal immigrants to build cities and suburbs in the 1990s.
He also suggested that the way to eliminate birthright citizenship for the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants is to appoint reliably conservative judges. Oh is that all? If he wants to override the 14th Amendment what Pawlenty really needs are judges who were absent the day they taught law in law school.
Against this backdrop of ignorance Gingrich sounded brilliant. Yet he loses points because his line about the National Guard perpetuates the myth that enforcement is the magic elixir of this debate. He should have gone after employers and stressed that Americans have a responsibility not to hire illegal immigrants or play dumb when their friends neighbors and relatives do. Gingrich could have also noted that the real problem is that in the United States too many parents coddle their teenagers and 20-somethings by shielding them from hard work even if its only a summer or after-school job and that this creates a vacuum in the labor market that is filled by illegal immigrants.
Im dreaming. This would never happen. Insulting peoples parenting is no way to win votes. Of course although it is often missed by those who cant be honest about the immigration debate neither is insulting their intelligence.
SAN DIEGO -- Newt Gingrich believes that Americans could solve the problem of illegal immigration in a practical and humane way if we can get the politicians and the news media to just deal with it honestly.
Bravo. When the former House speaker made those remarks during a recent GOP presidential debate he zeroed in on precisely what is wrong with the immigration debate.Its not that Americans -- and those who represent them in Washington -- are too lenient or too tough. Its that theyre too reluctant to confront the issue honestly.
There are numerous lies in the immigration debate -- this isnt about racism; Americans would gladly do the jobs that immigrants do for the right wage; all employers are greedy and exploit their workers; Americans dont want to limit legal immigration etc.
The biggest lies come from politicians who pretend to be something theyre not. Republicans talk tough but go soft on employers by creating loopholes and granting delays and exemptions to enforcement efforts. Democrats talk soft but pander to working-class Americans and union bosses by ratcheting up deportations building walls and launching border crackdowns as when Bill Clinton launched Operation Gatekeeper in October 1994.
Now Gingrich says: Enough of that. To combat illegal immigration we have to start leveling with the American people.
CNNs John King the debate moderator asked Gingrich if we should deport millions of illegal immigrants or provide some path to status for the undocumented.
Gingrich -- who is fun to watch because he has the skills to slug it out with fellow candidates with one hand and lash out at the moderator with the other -- wasnt having any of it.
One of the reasons this country is in so much trouble is that we are determined among our political elites to draw up catastrophic alternatives he lectured. You either have to ship 20 million people out of America or legalize all of them.
Nonsense Gingrich asserted. First control the border by using the National Guard or reassigning to the border the current Department of Homeland Security bureaucracy in Washington. But he said the larger point is that no serious citizen whos concerned about solving this problem should get trapped into a yes/no answer in which youre either for totally selling out protecting America or youre for totally kicking out 20 million people in a heartless way.
That is grown-up talk and I frankly have to wonder how it made its way into a presidential campaign. Still that answer was only good enough to earn the former history professor a grade of B-minus.
Thats much better than the F Id give to Tim Pawlenty who in addressing the topic sounded as if he were reading from a copy of GOP Immigration Policy for Dummies. The former Minnesota governor repeated the line about how the federal government wont do its job and said that states like Arizona have the right to police themselves. Had he been more honest Pawlenty could have acknowledged that the Obama administration has deported nearly 1 million people and that Arizona brought this problem onto itself by all but recruiting illegal immigrants to build cities and suburbs in the 1990s.
He also suggested that the way to eliminate birthright citizenship for the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants is to appoint reliably conservative judges. Oh is that all? If he wants to override the 14th Amendment what Pawlenty really needs are judges who were absent the day they taught law in law school.
Against this backdrop of ignorance Gingrich sounded brilliant. Yet he loses points because his line about the National Guard perpetuates the myth that enforcement is the magic elixir of this debate. He should have gone after employers and stressed that Americans have a responsibility not to hire illegal immigrants or play dumb when their friends neighbors and relatives do. Gingrich could have also noted that the real problem is that in the United States too many parents coddle their teenagers and 20-somethings by shielding them from hard work even if its only a summer or after-school job and that this creates a vacuum in the labor market that is filled by illegal immigrants.
Im dreaming. This would never happen. Insulting peoples parenting is no way to win votes. Of course although it is often missed by those who cant be honest about the immigration debate neither is insulting their intelligence.
