The American Spectator

Before I get into the meat of this comment, let me make clear where I’m coming from on immigration: My position is an amalgamation of the “welcome all you poor huddled masses” position of Jack Kemp, W Bush, and others, and the “throw the book at the illegals” position of so much of the conservative rank and file. Let’s encourage LEGAL immigration all we can, because this is the land of opportunity and anybody who will abide by our laws and contribute to our country should be welcome. But if they won’t even abide by our laws enough to go through the formal (and not terribly difficult) green card process, etc., then they aren’t likely to abide by our other laws, either, so they have no place in our society.

So today I pick up the paper and see Hillary C, Richard Durbin and others criticize Republican proposals (including one by the generally pro-immigrant Arlen Specter) that would make illegal entry into the US a felony and allow criminal prosecution of illegal immigrants. The unbelievably stupid comment from Durbin: ” I’m concerned that the chairman’s [proposal] would take the unprecedented step of criminalizing people in America based solely on their immigration status.”

Hell-O-O-O-O, Mr. Durbin: If somebody has intentionally broken our laws, that somebody is by definition a criminal. WE’RE not the ones “criminalizing” people, it’s the illegals themselves who are making themselves into criminals. “Illegal” means “illegal.” What part of the word “illegal” does Senator “Our-soldiers-are-as-bad-as-Hitler” not understand???