[hchutch]

And we never had an illegal immigration/southern border problem until the bracero program was killed in 1965 at the behest of labor unions...

One has to wonder if there might not be a connection - cause and effect. I am not one to let a "rule of law" mantra defend bad laws or the misapplication of laws. Otherwise, there lies the road to crap like Elian Gonzalez, going after a farmer who accidentally runs over an endangered rat, or a homeowner who shoots a burglar in his home and is prosecuted.

[RiflemanSharpe]

bracero program?

[Cold Heat]

One has to wonder if there might not be a connection - cause and effect.

Sure there is.

We do such a crappy job of deciding who can come and cannot.

We never gave the unskilled any attention and they came because employers were waiting for them.

Yet the federal government satisfied the complainers in the unions and never gave the consequences a second thought.

Your point shows that history should have been a guide, yet was silenced by the loudness of the complaining parties.

[Ophiucus]

And we never had an illegal immigration/southern border problem until the bracero program was killed in 1965 at the behest of labor unions...

I don't know, hchutch, documenting workers, making them get permits, being able to start tracking them, and even having payroll taxes applied....sounds like AMNESTY!!!

Of course, rounding them up and kicking them out first would have sent a stronger message but might have screwed up the deal (that Fox is holding up) on letting the U.S. get it's hands on the untapped Mexican oil, increasing trade, reducing dependence on Arab oil.

But dang, that's that big picture stuff again.....gotta focus on just the one issue.