Get your copy of our weekly print products at any of these convenient locations.
State Debate: Immigration crackdown wrong way to go
a 6/17 roundup of editorials in state papers
Immigration crackdown wrong way to go, says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The absence of comprehensive immigration reform from Congress is resulting in a crackdown -- a repudiation of who we are as a nation.
Two years ago, Congress sensibly beat back the effort to criminalize illegal immigration. But since then local authorities have been trying to achieve the same thing through a back door.
A recent New York Times article described how authorities throughout the country are using existing laws to round up illegal immigrants, with deportation as the end game. This is a nuclear, enforcement-only approach that disintegrates families and local economies.
Workplace raids last month in Postville, Iowa, at Agriprocessors Inc. resulted in 260 illegal immigrants sentenced to five months in prison on charges related to federal identity theft laws.
One consequence is precisely what immigration foes want: more deportations and a pall of fear cast over the immigrant community. Other consequences, however, include a repudiation of who we are as a nation of immigrants.
These raids result in children -- often U.S. citizens -- left parentless or facing the prospect themselves of what is tantamount to deportation. But another result is boarded-up stores, as already struggling communities realize that these workers are also consumers.
So to catch a relative few of the 12 million estimated illegal immigrants, the country is expending immense resources while the nation's economy needs many more workers than our antiquated immigration system will allow in.
This is lunacy and yet another reason for Congress to approve comprehensive immigration reform.
Statewide law on cell phone use best, if one is needed, says the Sheboygan Press.
Dentist Paul Gruber wants Sheboygan to ban the use of hand-held cell phones when driving a vehicle. The son of one of his patients was critically injured in an accident. The son was a passenger, and the driver was talking on a cell phone at the time of the crash.
Gruber proposes that the city allow the use of hands-free cell phones, but prohibit drivers from holding the phone with one hand while driving with the other.
We hope the city doesn't approve an ordinance. A hodge-podge of local laws would be next to impossible to enforce. We'd much rather see uniformity through a statewide law.
Furthermore, there's already a law against "inattentive driving." It shouldn't matter if the distraction comes from munching on a burger or chatting on the phone.
File photo
In March a protest was held in front of the City-County Building in support of families of deported immigrant workers.
