Kaine Blasts Federal Government on Immigration

By: Lowell
Published On: 9/26/2007 8:42:04 AM

On WTOP radio yesterday, Governor Kaine blasted the federal government on immigration:

A lack of federal involvement is causing state and local governments to feel the pressure to handle the nation's immigration crisis, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine says.

Appearing on WTOP's Ask the Governor program Tuesday, Kaine says he is concerned about the patchwork of rules that are being developed in parts of the state to handle illegal immigration.

"One county is doing 'x' and the next door neighbor is doing 'y' and there are going to be all kind of odd consequences to that, I would predict," Kaine says.

There has been "real bankruptcy at the federal level on this issue," Kaine says.

"It's an outrage that the federal government has basically had a consensus that the existing immigration laws don't work" Kaine says.

Kaine added that federal authorities "won't enforce [immigration laws] and they won't come up with a set of laws that they are willing to enforce." And, the Governor said, "It's outrageous that this issue keeps getting pushed off on cities and counties and states because it's not a good issue to have a patchwork of a million different sets of regulations."

Finally, how about this quote from Gov. Kaine?  "It's not the border between West Virginia and Virginia that's the problem here."  Exactly right.  What part of "federal responsibility" is hard to understand here?

Comments



Immigration is not the "problem" (Teddy - 9/26/2007 10:48:25 AM)
it is the symptom of a bad policy, a federal policy which basically was changed under republican President Reagan, who modified the way low-wage farm labors were imported by California growers to work their crops.  Reagan wanted to help his old California constituents, and also break Ceasar Chavez' irksome labor union for farm laborers. Over time the modified administrative handling of "temporary" workers has ballooned into the current enormous influx of low-wage laborers, all to accommodate greedy (Republican) capitalist entrepreneurs, including big farmers.

Forcing states and localities to devise various ways to deal with the growing numbers of undocumented "temporary" low-wage workers is putting a band aid on a symptom. 

Allowing local Republican politicians to demagogue the immigration "problem" which Republican presidents and Congresses caused and encouraged is nutty. Put the monkey on their backs, don't punish the victims; tell it like it is, including the bit about it being a Republican-manufactured problem.  Meanwhile deal with any crime on an individual basis (as Arlington does), do not punish a group for individual transgressions... are not the Republicans big on Individual Responsibility? Well, apply that principle here, for heavens' sake.

Also, hewing to the updated Republican line of punishing illegals as a class, refusing to provide health care and education for them will end up creating a permanent under-CASTE like the untouchables of India in our midst. Not exactly the American dream, is it?