Practice, Practice, Practice

Over at The Corner, John Derbyshire offers these responses to the usual pro-illegal immigration crowd. He suggests we get used to using them.

TALKING POINTS ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION [John Derbyshire]

News coverage of the illegal-immigrant demos was awash with happy-clappy cliches on the subject, every one of which has a straightforward answer. Samples.

---"They're just coming here for a better life." Well, that's also the reason people rob banks. If you rob a bank and get away with it, you'll have a MUCH better life than you had before. Should we legalize bank robbery?

---"Many of them have sons & daughters in the military, fighting in Iraq." On general grounds, I think hiring illegal immigrants into the armed forces is a lousy idea. When the Romans ran out of citizens willing to fight, they hired Germans, and look what happened. Still, any illegal who has served in combat on this country's behalf ought to be given citizenship, though I'd make his relatives go through proper channels. At least we'd find out how many is that "many."

---"Deporting illegals would mean splitting up families." Only if they chose to split up. If a man is illegal, his wife legal, and their child a citizen, I'd deport the man. They'd have to decide among themselves whether to split up the family or not. The wife and child could go with the man, if they didn't want to be split up.

You may as well start practicing these ripostes. You'll be needing them.

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