NYT Editorial Puzzled by US “Dread” of Illegals

“It is hard to understand what — besides election-year pandering and xenophobic hostility — motivates their (the Sensenbrenner camp) unwillingness to bend toward the flexible, sensible policy that immigrants, their families and their advocates, many business organizations and labor unions, and a majority of the Senate are seeking”, the New York Times editor whines this morning. The uncomprehending, bewildered and perplexed writer went on to explain his befuddlement, saying, “(the Heritage Foundation) warned that the Senate bill would increase the United States population by 103 million in 20 years. But that is still a staggeringly ridiculous sum, considering that Mexico's entire work force is only 43 million.” What a staggeringly ignorant statement, considering that the estimate covers 20 years, considering that Mexico is only one of the countries that illegals come from, considering that the greed of businessmen to exploit cheap labor is the main culprit in the expanding numbers of illegals in the US which has caused the unease felt by Americans, and considering that the election-year pandering of Republicans for the Hispanic vote is what has prompted the current immigration flap. The lead-off sentence in the Editorial is: “Americans should be proud of what the United States Senate did this week.” I would be proud if it weren’t for that sense of dread I feel about millions of people being awarded citizenship and billions of dollars of social services for breaking the law. Ah, but when you look at the President, Vice President, Attorney General and their cronies and cohorts, it follows that the most egregious law-breakers in the land would see big advantages to rewarding other law-breakers. It also follows that the New York Times would be as out of touch with the American people as the Bush administration is.