Jeez, why am I not even surprised any more?
The Sun takes a look at where the Senate candidates stand on immigration reform... And as usual, they don't have anything truly meaningful to say.
Sharron, oh Sharron...
Angle, the former assemblywoman endorsed by the national Tea Party Express group, not surprisingly takes a conservative stance on illegal immigration. She supports Arizona’s new law, wants to build a fence or two on the border and create a “less illegal-friendly environment.”
In written responses to questions from the Sun, Angle would not say whether she supports eliminating education and emergency room access for illegal immigrants.
Instead, she responds with questions that imply she would at least consider it: “Should the taxpayers of Nevada be paying the cost of educating the children of illegals? Should an American citizen with a sick child wait in line at a hospital behind an illegal? No one wants to see a genuinely sick person turned away, but our priorities are all wrong when we don’t consider the consequences of these laws.”
Ummm... Perhaps Sharron Angle's priorities are all wrong here. Do we want to leave these kids untreated so they can possibly spread diseases to the rest of us? Do we want to leave them uneducated so they can't get any jobs and become dependent on public and private assistance programs?
And do we really want to kick out all these many thousands of people PAYING THE TAXES (sales, property, and casino) that fund our schools, our hospitals, our roads, our entire State of Nevada?
Typical Sharron Angle. Her "wingnut tunnel vision" obstructs her from seeing the full picture of reality.
Next!
Chachas offers a kind of eulogy to the days when Americans could walk the streets unfettered: “It is worth noting that in many countries around the world, a policeman or military officer may, with very limited cause, ask any citizen to offer their ‘papers please.’ American society — the freest in the world — may be entering a period where our historic standards for personal freedom and the burden against government intrusion are challenged.” [...]
For a country with a $700 billion defense budget, there’s no excuse not to secure the border, he says. “If we can secure the border between North and South Korea does anyone really believe we can’t create an appropriate barrier between Juarez and El Paso?”
On a “path to citizenship,” Chachas says undocumented workers who will pay unpaid back taxes, fines and penalties should have a path to legal residency and citizenship in the typical time frame, though those who have been complete tax scofflaws should be deported.
Well, I'll at least give John Chachas some credit (again) for offering real policy... But it looks like
he's copying Harry Reid's notes here.
Next!
As for immigration reform, Lowden says there is no need for additional legislation. The government, she says, should enforce the laws on the books. To secure the borders, the government should use technology to track movement and increase the number of border patrol agents, a task that for years has been elusive given rigorous skill requirements of the job.
Ah, Suzy Lowdown! As usual, she has nothing meaningful to say. Again, the legislation that Reid is proposing in the Senate will address border safety issues!
And again,
Arizona's insane SB 1070 won't do anything to curb immigration problems. This is certainly not the way to go, mandating the police to harass people because of the color of their skin, And yes, contrary to what Suzy Lowdown may believe...
“I’m not sure it’s constitutional,” Lowden says. “We’ll have to let the courts decide that, but they’ve made a line in the sand saying to the federal government: ‘It’s your job to take care of the border and you are letting us down.’ ”
Racial profiling and unreasonable search and seizure ARE unconstitutional. But of course, Ms. Suzy only likes to talk about our Constitution when she can misinterpret it to trash health care reform.
Next!
Tarkanian, a lawyer and Las Vegas businessman, supports the Arizona law, saying the state has a “10th Amendment right and obligation to protect their citizens however they see necessary.”
By violating Fourth Amendment unreasonable search and seizure rights? Well, I guess Baby Tark at least gets a few brownie points for effort. Still, racial profiling is unjust and illegal. When did the color of one's skin become "reasonable suspicion"? But wait, it gets worse.
Tarkanian supports cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants and completing the border fence. He also wants to “make sure that those here illegally are not entitled to taxpayer-funded education, health care or welfare.”
To be clear, Congress has already outlawed welfare benefits for illegal immigrants; in general, federal law requires emergency care for the sick and injured; the U.S. Supreme Court ruled more than two decades ago that all children regardless of citizenship or residency are entitled to an education. Tarkanian would eliminate public education for children who are illegal immigrants. He would deport those here illegally after they receive emergency health care.
As for the millions living here illegally, Tarkanian would deport them “whenever we catch them.” He does not support any path to citizenship. “Even mere talk of amnesty is irresponsible because it encourages illegal immigration,” he says.
HUH??!! That's just
crazy talk. As the article above states, Congress already passed legislation banning undocumented immigrants from receiving federal welfare benefits. And as I said above regarding Sharron Angle's lunacy, do we really want to punish the kids and leave them uneducated so they can become
"untouchables" akin to the India of old?
So once more, the Nevada GOoPers don't really have much of anything meaningful to say on immigration reform. And why are we even surprised?
