The Semester Is Almost Over

The Semester Is Almost Over

Which means, at least for a few weeks (until the summer term starts at ITT Technical Institute), I have some time to blog. This arrived in my email:

Let me see if I got this right.


If you cross the North Korean border illegally you get 12 years at hard labor.

If you cross the Iranian border  illegally you are detained indefinitely.

If you cross the Afghan border illegally, you get shot.

If you cross the Saudi Arabian border illegally, you will be jailed.

If you cross the Chinese border illegally, you may never be heard from again.

If you cross the Venezulan border illegally, you will be branded a spy and your fate will be sealed.

If you cross the Cuban border illegally you will be thrown into political prison to rot.

And the author could have mentioned that if you cross the southern border of Mexico illegally, you are subject to a two year prison sentence.

If you cross the U.S. border illegally you get:

* A JOB,
* A DRIVERS LICENSE,
* SOCIAL SECURITY CARD,
* WELFARE,
* FOOD STAMPS,
* CREDIT CARDS,
* SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,
* FREE EDUCATION,
* FREE HEALTH CARE,
* A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON
* BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE
* THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY’S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON’T GET ENOUGH RESPECT
* AND, IN MANY INSTANCES, YOU CAN VOTE.
*

I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HAD A FIRM GRASP ON THE SITUATION

This is very funny, but not entirely correct. If an illegal alien applies for welfare or food stamps, and their status is discovered, they will be denied these benefits. (But widespread document fraud means that it may not be discovered.) If any alien registers to vote, they are breaking the law--and this does not seem to actually be terribly common. (Legal immigrants voting before they have become citizens--that played a part in the Dornan v. Sanchez Congressional race some years ago, but it was hundreds of such unlawful votes, not tens of thousands.)

This list also conflates those things that the government provides (free education, at least K-12), those things that are theoretically not available to illegal immigrants, and and those things that are provided because some businesses are too stupid to think clearly. (Why, oh why, would you make a house loan to someone who might be deported on a few days notice?)

Still, there is a rather interesting point to this rant above: the U.S. is vastly more hospitable to illegal immigrants than many other countries.  Now, at this point, liberals will start saying, "Of course we are: because we are morally superior."  But much of the time when this debate about illegal immigration comes up, liberals are screeching that America is a racist, hate-filled country that treats illegal immigrants like garbage.  Which is it?

UPDATE: A reader tells me that in Texas, illegal aliens get to pay in-state tuition.  I was at a going away party for a friend recently, who, because he does silly things like obey immigration laws, is having to leave the U.S.  He was here on an H-1B visa, and his job evaporated--nor could he get another job.  But since he isn't illegally present here, he has to leave the country. 

At the going away party, I was chatting with a young lady who is just graduating high school.  She was running into a problem that because she isn't a permanent resident, she doesn't qualify for in-state tuition at Boise State University.  She has no accent.  She has lived in Idaho for many years with her parents, who are here on an H-1B visa.

There is an argument that someone who is not a permanent resident does not enjoy the benefits as a permanent resident.  But it seems absurd that someone who has followed the law is no better off than a person who has entered the country unlawfully.