Editorials
Immmigration issue still touchy
Conservative leaders last week lauded the defeat of S.1348, otherwise known as the 2007 Immigration Reform Bill, a measure that would have (among other things) "eased" the path toward legal status for the estimated 12-20 million immigrants currently living in the United States. Among those to celebrate the measure's defeat was Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., who said it was an "injustice to those immigrants who have gone about the citizenship process legally."
Inhofe's stance is factually correct, and he has the support of tens of millions of Americans who argue our borders and immigration laws have failed miserably to stem the flow of the illegal tsunami. Americans have watched the population of illegal Mexican immigrants balloon for decades. The most common complaints focus on the loss of American labor-oriented jobs to those illegals, as well as the titanic cost of paying for health care and other expenses incurred by those immigrants. Some estimates put the cost of illegal immigrant health care and other "social services" at hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
Those numbers could anger even the most compassionate taxpayer, but there are heart-tugging realities on the "other side" of the coin that have lawmakers all but riding the three-foot wooden fence that divides Mexico from the Arizona desert.
There is no disputing that illegals are in violation of current law, and many could care less about their “illegal” status. But tens of thousands of others have skirted the borders in desperation, seeking to feed starving families. They live every second of every day knowing they could be deported at any moment, but they gladly take that chance and endure the wrath of angry American citizens because they feel they have no other option.
So, what's the answer?
- Editorials
-
-
e-property should not be forgotten
Those who haven’t hopped on the e-band wagon, social media includes any e-mail service Web site, microblogging or short message service Web sites, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc.
-
Anti-texting and driving bill is appropriate
Oklahoma state lawmakers did the right thing this week by passing legislation designed to make it illegal to text while driving and by voting to ban cell phone use by teens with a learner’s permit.
-
Water is source of life
Recently, the Oklahoma Senate Energy and Environment Committee gave unanimous approval to a proposal by Sen. Jay Paul Gumm that would strengthen existing legal protection for the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer — the proposal is to be heard on the Senate floor.
-
Chicago handgun ban should be reversed
Two years ago a case before the Supreme Court sought to answer the question of whether or not the right to bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment was an individual right or only one that guarantees a state’s ability to have an armed militia.
-
Safety of the expectant mother
Pregnant women usually have a certain glow about them as they waddle from one place to another, waiting patiently — or not so patiently — for the birth of a child.
-
Cooperating with the census helps all Oklahomans
Hearing someone say “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you,” is guaranteed to generate one of two reactions, and sometimes both - derision and/or deep suspicion. This may particularly be true in the heartland where there may greater aversion than some other parts of the country to anything smacking of federal government.
-
Ten Commandments on trial again
It is absurd to separate church and state, at least in the way the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) defines the terms.
- Climate change needs a 2nd look
-
Hathcoat should remain city manager
Ada City Manager David Hathcoat gambling on city time is clearly a serious issue requiring the studious attention of city councilors who are currently doing exactly that, reviewing the situation with a fine tooth comb.
-
Obama an ideologue first, a politician second
It is striking how quickly attitudes regarding the importance of healthcare reform versus the unimportance of fiscal responsibility have changed places in the hearts and minds of our national political leadership.
- More Editorials Headlines
-
e-property should not be forgotten
