March 17, 2007
Immigration Debate To Heat up Locally
It should make for riveting television when WPRO-AM talk-show host Dan Yorke and blogger-political activist Matt Jerzyk square off on immigration on 10 News Conference at 6:30 AM this Sunday. (A few disclosures: I'm a weekly guest on Yorke's show, and Jerzyk is an occasional Phoenix contributor.)Should be interesting. One point though: I don't think many conservatives are blaming just liberals--President Bush has certainly gotten his fair share of criticism. Any conservative criticism of the actions of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation in the aftermath of the recent New Bedford raid is because they seem more concerned about playing up the plight of exploited illegal immigrants over an entirely legal (if somewhat mishandled) raid. As the ProJo editorializes, the law enforcement officers were simply doing there job--upholding the law. None of this means that conservatives are letting the President off the hook for his predisposition to amnesty.Jerzyk and Yorke have been engaged in a tiff since Jerzyk made a recent post responding to some of Yorke's assertions about the New Bedford immigration bust.
Considering how George W. Bush is in his second term, you have to laugh when conservatives blame liberals for shortcomings in the nation's immigration policy. That said, both immigrant advocates and immigration critics seem united in their belief that the staus quo leaves a lot to be desired. Since immigrants have long made for convenient scapegoats, the hard part is stimulating a dialogue that promotes light, rather than just heat (if not outright misinformation).
If we could all look beyond the immigrant bashing (or defending), there's a much larger story here involving the awarding of government contracts to firms blatantly violating the law.
But then, there's not as much raw emotion to put on the TV screen, or the airwaves.
Marc,
The issue of illegal immigration is one that cuts across all current political boundries. No question if we could poll such diverse groups as the NRA and NEA (secret ballot required here) membership in both would come down squarely on the side of ICE and the removal of illegal aliens from our midst. Amazes me how our elected officials are so out of step with the vast majority.
Donnis' comments in his little ditty about "misinformation" is quite amusing given the paper he writes for and the blogging company he keeps. Channel 10 must be missing the slimey Guy Dufault element if they're reaching out to the Jerzyk types. Shocked Yorke accepted in the invite to be on with Jerzyk. Why validate such slime?
Rhody: I agree. Raw emotion sells and the fact that, as I heard, the military didn't bring up the illegals because "it wasn't their job" is disappointing.
Tim: Yes, it surely does seem to be a case of the people against the elite.
Posted by: Marc Comtois at March 17, 2007 12:20 PM