Thread: Immigration activists: Arresting illegals is Hitleresque

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Immigration activists: Arresting illegals is Hitleresque

This post was written by Robert VerBruggen on 22 December, 2006 (07:46) | All News, Society and Culture, US Government News, Civil Rights, Economic News

This story is, unfortunately, a rather extreme example of identity politics gone wild. Left-wing Hispanic activist groups are calling for an end to illegal immigration workplace raids, comparing them to Hitler’s roundup of Jews.

Well, except for that pesky fact that Jews had a right to be in Germany. And that minor complication that the U.S. government is arresting, not exterminating, illegal Hispanics.

The amazing thing is that there isn’t a single assertion in the article that the government falsely arrested a single Latin American. So there is no evidence of racial profiling in this case whatsoever (I support racial profiling to combat terrorism, but not to control plain-and-simple illegal immigration). “Many” of the arrestees were Hispanic because, well, many illegal immigrants are Hispanic.

An activist also claims that deporting the workers would hurt the U.S. economy, so I guess it’s time I laid out my perspective on illegal immigration.

For starters, illegal immigrants create massive costs and benefits. They use social services, drive down wages (there’s no such thing as a job Americans won’t do, just prices they won’t do it at), take jobs low-IQ Americans could use and disproportionately commit crimes. On the other hand, they pay some taxes and contribute to the economy. Driving down wages can even be seen as a good thing, because the products Americans buy go down slightly in price.

On balance, most experts agree that immigration, legal and illegal, is good for the economy. Business owners see the biggest benefit, and the average American saves a little bit of money each year in cheaper goods. But low-wage workers get a major lashing, losing jobs and getting paid less.

My bottom line is this: I’m OK with just about any level of immigration, so long as it’s decided democratically and properly enforced. I like cheap products, but I also like keeping down the social problems that come with immigration. For someone who doesn’t have to live in a high-crime neighborhood or compete for factory jobs, it’s a wash. I only ask that legislators take the interests of low-wage laborers to heart and balance them against the interests of business and the general public. Right now, no one in government seems to care about folks losing their jobs.

We need to enforce our laws — and that means arresting illegal immigrants and deporting them whenever we catch them — and change those laws if we think the benefits of doing so outweigh the cost. There’s nothing Hitleresque about that.

And we absolutely need to recognize what most Americans do, that illegal immigration comes with costs as well as benefits.

Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://www.therationale.com and http://robertsrationale.blogspot.com.

Yet MS-13 and other drug cartels and hispanic gangs going around hacking off limbs of their victims isn't Hitleresque?

Well thats a huge BINGO

Yet MS-13 and other drug cartels and hispanic gangs going around hacking off limbs of their victims isn't Hitleresque?