Immigration

It’s Topic A, and I’m conflicted. So what’s new? These things I am not conflicted about: I do not believe we should ever criminalize religious or other groups who seek merely to help people in need. I do not believe most illegal immigrants are parasitic on the United States: I think they help make it what it is. There has to be a way to accommodate legally the millions of people who work hard in America and merely want an opportunity to better their lives, which is why the president’s guest-worker program seems reasonable to me, as do the proposals from McCain and Kennedy. Nevertheless, it’s unhealthy for any country to have laws it does not enforce, and we obviously need more attention to the borders to the South and North. One of the core functions of any government is the securing of borders, and a conservative government that does not accomplish that is betraying basic conservative principles. In other words, there’s an obvious compromise waiting to be had here. It’s just that an election year may not be the most opportune time to get one.