As we head into President Bush's speech tonight, here are some interesting recent links on the immigration topic:
John Podhertz (H/T Instapundit) states:
There are really three immigration debates. There is the cultural debate, there is the economic debate, and there is the security debate. On matters of culture, I believe as everybody else here does that our immigration policy makes no sense if it is not directed at the process of turning non-Americans into Americans through the instruction of English, knowledge of civics and American history, and helping to instill a sense of pride and commitment to the country.On economic matters, I agree that if immigrants are not of net benefit to the country, it makes no sense for us to allow newcomers to do harm in this way — and here, in my opinion, the case made by restrictionists is by far the weakest. On security matters, an uncontrolled border is clearly unacceptable, and a panoply of measures, including a border fence, is more than called for.
As for dealing with the illegals already here, there's a sense in which this debate has been radicalized to such an extent that the Right won't be satisfied with a policy that does not explicitly advocate expulsion — all other policies being dubbed "amnesty" and therefore illegitimate — while the Left refuses to consider any policy other than special-treatment affirmative-action line-jumping legalization...
Is Hugo Chavez behind the illegal immigration rallies? -- UPDATED (H/T Instapundit)
Thomas Sowell
Captain's Quarter
Captain's Quarter
Lawrence Lindsey
As usual, Michelle Malkin has been all over the issue for a long time. Some of her more recent postings include:
Our Border Patrol...or Mexico's?
Snitching & Spying for Mexico
DHS: Deny, Hedge, Spin
Homeland Insecurity Bulletin
Hurray For Illegal Aliens with TB!
The Border Patrol Under Siege
Whose Running America?
Too Little, Too Late
Read My Lips: No New Amnesty
Same Old, Same Old
There have been three recent postings on Anchor Rising about immigration:
Identifying Four Core Issues Underlying the Immigration Debate
More Misguided Thinking From RIFuture & State Legislators on Illegal Immigration
Why is Congress Discriminating Against Educated Legal Immigrants?