The local news did a story just now on the prevalence of low-cost laborers in New Orleans. Many of the laborers here are Mexican and it’s assumed that these are illegal immigrants. The report led off by saying that homeowners are happy to have these laborers, otherwise they’d have no way of getting their houses repaired. Then they cut to a prim woman from the Southeastern Legal Foundation who said that allowing illegal immigrants to work here ‘undermines the rule of law.’ And therefore it’s bad to use them.
I love these sort of blanket statements. They’re so pat, and so unassailable. People who utter them are really saying something else. They’re saying “I’m absolutely right, and if you attempt to challenge my view you are a heathen.” I have a question for this deity (aka ‘The Rule of Law’): why don’t you just decree that the illegal immigrants who come seeking gainful employment in a community that needs them are now legal?
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