CalInsider on illegal immigration

Daniel Weintraub of the SacBee held an online chat. Here's one Q&A:

Question: How big a role will our broken immigration policy play in the next election (federal and state)?

answer: I wouldn't be surprised if immigration became a major issue again, and it will happen overnight if we are attacked by terrorists who are found to have entered the country through the Mexican border. Right now both parties are reluctant to address it. The Democrats seem to believe that illegal immigration is really no different from legal immigration, and the Republicans are afraid that if they focus on it, they will suffer a backlash from Latino voters, as they did in the 1990s. I have always thought that a leader willing to take a calm, rationale look at illegal immigration while lauding legal immigrants would do fine. Seems to me that illegal immigrants hurt legal immigrants by "cutting in line" in front of those who are waiting and by bidding down wages in the entry level jobs that many legal immigrants hold as they try to climb up the economic ladder. Handled carefully, this should be an issue that appeals across party lines.

I got my question in a minute before the Q&A closed, so I don't know if I was just too late or if the question was too hot to handle. I asked for his opinion of this, and why he hadn't been reported in any U.S. newspapers: "California legislators ask Mexican Senate to intervene [in driver's licenses for illegal aliens]".

Immigration2004 · Wed, 11/17/2004 - 11:23 · · Importance: 1