http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-rev ... 31989.html

Debating illegals: A plethora of nuts


Sunday, March 12, 2006

In the same week a new study concluded that up to 12 million illegal aliens are living in the United States, their nutty apologists came out of the woodwork:

In seeking advice on how to deal with the crush of illegals in Suffolk County, N.Y., Executive Steve Levy organized a conference that rightly included the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and Numbers USA, two quite legitimate groups diligently working the problem.

Critics smeared both, likening them to another group they do not like - the Sachem Quality of Life Organization - and intimated that all are hate groups. The far-Left Southern Poverty Law Center chimed in, smearing FAIR as previously being on "the cusp" of being a hate group.

As the debate unfolded on Capitol Hill over tougher immigration rules, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., warned that Republicans want a massive hunt for illegals, turning the country into a "police state."

Mrs. Clinton was speaking to hundreds of the newest wave of illegal Irish immigrants - members of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform - who took buses from New York City to Washington for the debate. The lawbreakers demanded "action"; the euphemism of the hour - "earned-legalization." It's amnesty.

Criminalizing illegal immigrants is wrong, Clinton said.

It's the kind of "logic" that will tear this republic asunder.