Immigration Irresponsibility Well Documented

People who entered the United States illegally may be called "undocumented" in politically correct circles, but what is all too well documented is the utter irresponsibility of both political parties in dealing with immigration issues.

Both Democratic and Republican administrations have left the border with Mexico porous for years — porous not just for Mexicans but for anybody else, including terrorists from the Middle East.

Two very different issues have gotten jumbled together in the political stew called "comprehensive immigration reform." The first and most fundamental issue is whether we are going to have an immigration policy at all. The second issue is: Just what should that immigration policy be?

If we do not control our own border, then we do not have any immigration policy. We may have immigration laws on the books, but if anybody can cross the border who wants to, those laws are just words on paper and a bad joke.

Polls showing the surprisingly favorable reactions of some Republican voters to Donald Trump's irresponsible generalities about immigrants probably reflect many people's frustrations with politicians' weasel words on the subject, and politicians' failure to do anything about a festering problem.

The recent murder of Kate Steinle in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant with multiple felonies and multiple expulsions, followed by multiple illegal returns to this "sanctuary city," has been galling to many people.

One immediate consequence of this outrage has been a drive to pass "Kate's law" prescribing mandatory prison time for anyone who has been expelled from this country and comes back again illegally. It is overdue.

It is a painful sign of the deterioration of respect for law that a new law has to be passed to prevent a "sanctuary city" from obstructing justice, which is already a crime.

The larger issue is control of our own borders. We can debate forever whether building a fence is the best way to get control. But too much time has been wasted already.

Read the rest of Thomas Sowell's op-ed HERE.

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