By CHRIS POWELL
This month’s immigration raid at a car wash in Hamden in which seven or eight people were arrested sparked hysteria from Mayor Lauren Garrett, state legislators, municipal officials, and clergy. At a press conference they declared they don’t want immigration law enforced in town.
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Speaking of federal immigration agents, state Rep. Jorge Cabrera said, “You come for one of us, you come for all of us.”
Really? Were Cabrera and his colleagues at the press conference all in the country illegally too?
Cabrera said the people arrested in the raid “weren’t committing crimes.”
But entering the country illegally is a violation of federal criminal law.
“We have to decide what kind of community we’re going to be,” Cabrera said. “We have to decide what kind of state we’re going to be.”
Yes, we have to decide whether everyone admitted to the country is to be reviewed for fitness and safety or whether the country’s borders should be erased.
Mayor Garrett said, “People are living in fear because of an inhumane presidency,” adding: “Hamden proudly welcomes everyone.”
But why should people breaking immigration law have no fear of its enforcement? Does the mayor’s “everyone” really include people who are in the country illegally, even those with bad intent?
That sure sounds like open borders.
The Rev. Jack Perkins Davidson was upset that Hamden’s police got late notice of the immigration raid but didn’t alert him and others so they could try to obstruct it. Mayor Garrett seemed to agree. She said she wished notice of the raid had been given to organizations that assist illegal immigrants — presumably so they could have been warned to scram.
People at the press conference carried signs reading: “No hate. No fear. Immigrants are welcome here.” That was to say that anyone who favors enforcing U.S. immigration law, virtually the most liberal in the world, is a hater, that illegal immigrants and legal immigrants are equally welcome in Hamden, and that the law should be disobeyed.
Indeed, it’s impossible to get such people to distinguish between legal and illegal immigration and impossible to have an honest discussion with them, probably because an honest discussion would clarify their position: that everyone who enters the country illegally and makes his way to Connecticut should be above immigration law and exempt from review for fitness.
That position means nullification, insurrection, secession — and national suicide.
Even so, there is great cruelty in the current situation, with millions of foreigners having been lured into the country by the previous national administration’s negligence and having accepted positions as serfs — unable to vote, denied protection of employment law, living in fear of being caught, but hoping for amnesty someday.
The cruelty is unnecessary — except, of course, for the Democratic Party’s desire to use illegal immigrants to skew congressional and state legislative districting in the party’s favor.
There has always been a simple and far less painful solution: to require employers to use the federal government’s e-Verify system to validate employment and to impose severe penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
Most people who enter the country illegally do so confident that they can work “under the table.” If e-Verify was enforced nationally, with severe penalties against criminal employers, most illegal immigrants would deport themselves and most employers would stop breaking the law.
The same policy should be implemented with schools. Federal law should prohibit schools from admitting students who cannot show proof of citizenship or authorization to be in the country.
About 22 states participate to some extent in e-Verify. Of course Connecticut, a “sanctuary state” that pretends not to be one, does not participate. Opponents of using e-Verify may claim that it would be too difficult for many people to obtain proper identification, but that’s nonsense. Yes, it might take a little effort but obtaining proper identification is an obligation of citizenship.
The real reason Connecticut doesn’t participate in e-Verify is because the people in charge of the state favor open borders.
Chris Powell has written about Connecticut government and politics for many years. (CPowell@cox.net)
Chris Powell column 