Thursday, July 31, 2008

On the back of a truck this morning



On the back of a truck this morning, I read the following:

'WELCOME TO AMERICA. NOW LEARN ENGLISH'

Left me feeling a little queasy on resurgent jingoism in small towns that has potential to spill over into the national front. Made me also think that we need a proper national immigration policy (especially after reading this)...
America’s 500,000 police officers are sworn to enforce the law. But we are increasingly unable to do so. Those who want to restrict immigration criticize us for not arresting immigrants for entering the country illegally. Yet others rightly wonder how we can do our job if some residents are afraid to report crimes or otherwise cooperate with the police for fear of deportation. Without a national immigration policy, a new culture of lawlessness will increasingly permeate our society. In cities, politicians will pressure police departments to reduce immigration by using racial profiling and harassment. At the same time, immigrants who fear that the police will help deport them will rely less on their local officers and instead give thugs control of their neighborhoods.

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