Pulse of the Twin Cities

MOVING MOUNTAINS
By webmaster - Date: 2007-06-11 12:55:11



Immigration, part 2: Searching for a middle path? by LYDIA HOWELL

What was actually in the U.S. Senate's McCain-Kennedy immigration bill changed hourly and tried to please everybody--except American workers—and ultimately the bill pleased nobody. It's a good thing the bill died. Immigration policy will certainly be a big issue in 2008 campaigning.

It's of interest to point out a glaring contradiction from my fellow progressives. They cite polls that say 70 percent of Americans want the U.S. out of Iraq, as an argument for congressional action. Yet, about the same percentage of Americans are concerned about undocumented immigrant workers' impact on American labor, not to mention an already-stretched-thin (that leaves out working poor and most working class Americans) social service system and public schools.

I'm not talking about the Minutemen vigilante/Tom Tencredo types, drawing on xenophobic hysteria. Expanding powers between law enforcement agencies to deport 12 to 20 million people will only intensify the police state measures we've already seen operate in the “war on drugsâ€