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April 20, 2006
Bush, Immigration And The Pulse Of The People
Michelle Malkin presents some depressing data on workplace enforcement of immigration law (via PoliPundit). Even though a commenter noted that the sources for Michelle's numbers might be mixed, the trend doesn't lie: even considering only the Bush years starting in 2000, the number of "workplace arrests" has steadily fallen from 953 in that year to 159 in 2004. And even more telling is the evidence that the "catch-and-release" strategy is still firmly in place. Malkin:
Just ask local and federal law enforcement officers in the Galveston, Texas, area, where in January of this year, following a collaborative effort between local police and area ICE agents, some 62 illegal aliens were caught at a day labor site...and released after local open-borders activists from LULAC kicked up a fuss and Washington ordered its local ICE agents to cave in. It happens every day.
Something else that happens every day is the organized effort exerted by the Catholic church to flout our immigration laws.
Every day of every week of every year, a newly arrived illegal immigrant, usually a young man at the end of a long and dangerous journey, knocks on Mark Zwick's door at Casa Juan Diego[, a] small complex of buildings a couple of miles west of downtown Houston. [...]Zwick lets them in. He gives them a bed, food, medical help if they need it. He will help them get their first job. If they are on their way elsewhere, Zwick will pay their fare and give them a ride to the bus station.
So what if it's a crime to harbor illegal immigrants, to transport them, to help them avoid apprehension. Those are the laws of man, which do not apply if they contradict the laws of God.[...]
Catholic social teaching states that there is no such thing as an "illegal" immigrant.. All people have a God-given right, more fundamental than the rights of a nation to control its borders, to seek better lives anywhere they can
It is this doctrine that has allowed the Catholic Church in America, from the Conference of Bishops down to lay activists such as Mark and Louise Zwick, to become perhaps the most powerful voice among opponents of efforts to restrict immigration and stem the tide of illegal and legal immigrants.
Emphases mine. Allowing this kind of blatant, organized law-breaking is another illustration of the disconnect between the Bush administration (and therefore DHC) and the electorate--and that electorate includes not only the conservative base, but also a lot of centrists both Republican and Democrat. My mother is a devout Catholic and unredeemable FDR Democrat yet she has been expressing exasperation to me over the constant haranguing of her priest on this subject. Democrat or no, her common sense tells her what the score is.
I wish GWB could. Perhaps this report indicates some positive developments. (Again, thanks to PoliPundit.) While I'm not about to forget what Karl Rove has done for Republicans, I think the immigration issue has enough potential energy to knock a big chunk out of the good work he's done.
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