Campaigning in Waterloo (seriously) Iowa today, former Speaker Newt Gingrich said the following on the subject of illegal immigration:
Gingrich recounted how World War Two-era U.S. draft boards chose who would serve in the military, saying a similar system might help deal with the millions of immigrants living in the United States illegally.
“Because I think we are going to want to find some way to deal with the people who are here to distinguish between those who have no ties to the United States, and therefore you can deport them at minimum human cost, and those who, in fact, may have earned the right to become legal, but not citizens,” Gingrich said.
Allah asks if this idea is as toxic as it might seem. Yes, I would say it’s pretty toxic any time you bring up either amnesty or the draft; bringing them up together in one idea is solid gold. Gingrich didn’t use the word amnesty, of course, but it’s there in the thought process. Regarding the draft, in the time frame of which Gingrich speaks, World War II, the nation was at war for freedom’s survival, and the draft boards dealt with determining which citizens could go overseas to defend the country. But in the boards Gingrich envisions, the boards would be dealing with who is here illegally but gets to stay forever. Millions being sent overseas to defend the country, versus letting millions who broke the law and disrespected the country, stay, because we’re feeling nice today. That’s a pretty major difference in mission. And with these amnesty boards, there are several thousand devils in the details. Among other things, how much would this new bureaucracy cost, and what mechanism ensures that illegal aliens will come before it in the first place? Don’t you have to start enforcing the law just to make the boards viable?
As for earning the right to stay in America, there is a way for immigrants to do that: Follow the law. Respect the country. Come in by the front door, not through a window or the back door. Having been through that process with my own family, I know it’s a pain and can be expensive. But it is the legal process that has been set out. How does one “earn” the right to stay here, by violating the law every single day, while others follow it? There is also a way to halt the flow of illegal aliens in, and turn some of it back out, without mass deportations. Stop incentivizing law breaking. Stop holding out the hope of legalization for anyone who came here illegally. Stop giving them special breaks like the DREAM Act, enforce immigration laws, and clamp down on employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens. None of this take cleverness, it just takes determination to enforce the laws we already have on the books while beefing up security at the border. It’s not rocket science.
A couple of days ago, an Iowa man stood up and told Gingrich to get out of the race before making a bigger fool of himself. That was good advice.
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