Illegal Aliens

In the letters to the editor on March 26, there were two contrary views concerning the issue of state tuition for illegal immigrants. Neither, however, addressed the legality of providing this benefit to illegal aliens. Obviously those Maryland senators who voted for this benefit need to review the federal law on this issue as well. The Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 states that an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a state for any post-secondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such benefit without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident.

Rep. Andy Harris' off-handed insults aimed at President Obama in the Sun story "Illegal migrants hope for reprieve" (Nov. 19) reveal his blatant contempt for the president of the United States. Unfortunately, they say more about Mr. Harris' lack of respect for the nation's highest office than about immigration or about President Obama. Regardless of anyone's opinions on immigration, Mr. Harris' quoted remark that "If the president doesn't like the current law, he should have come back early from his vacation in the tropics and worked with Congress to change it, not doing yet another unconstitutional end run around our immigration law," was gratuitously nasty, false and ridiculous.

ROME - With next year's national elections looming, center-right coalition leader Silvio Berlusconi fired an early strike last week, outlining a 25-point political platform that highlights a crackdown on illegal immigration. It was a signal that immigration, a relatively recent, but fast-rising, issue on the Italian agenda, will help define the battle between the ruling center-left coalition and its center-right opposition. The current government, led by Prime Minister Giuliano Amato, is keenly aware of how immigration is shaping up as a political bludgeon.

Dan Rodricks ' recent column ("Immigrants: We detest them - and need them," June 30) against the effort to put the law giving in-state college tuition rates to illegal aliens on the ballot for the voters to decide is misguided. He is obviously very touched that without illegal immigrants, the rest of us may have to pay more for our vegetables and fruits, pay more for our lawn care and pay more for household servants. This is not a very principled stand. He also obviously does not care that these illegal immigrants depress wages and enable employers to pay less than a decent American wage.

Immigration reform became a bad bill The Senate immigration reform bill was a bad bill ("Migrant bill hits wall in Senate," June 8). It became more and more enforcement-oriented as it worked its way through the Senate. It lost support from immigrant-workers-rights Democrats and faced increasingly vehement opposition from its natural "enforcement-only" opponents. It would have been an administrative disaster - a law virtually impossible to implement without enormous expense. As the bill developed, the response from the anti-illegal-immigrant segment of the public forced it to grow more punitive - with large fines and administrative obstacles to permanent citizenship.

Now that the bitter election season is over, both parties will have to return to the explosive issue of illegal immigration. Increased border patrols, a 700-mile fence to stop the easiest access routes, employer sanctions and encouragement of one official language can all help solve the crisis. But once the debate is renewed, congressional reformers will be blitzed by advocates of the failed status quo with a series of false assumptions concerning the issue. Take, for example, the "shared self-interest" argument - that the benefits to the U.S. and Mexico of leaving our borders open trump the need for enforcement of existing laws and outweigh the costs to taxpayers that result from massive influxes of poor illegal aliens.

Washington -- Justice William Brennan, asked if he regretted any decision he had rendered during his 34 years on the Supreme Court, replied, ''Hell no, I never thought that I was wrong.'' And he always thought he had a right to impose social policies he considered right. Today's national debate about California's Proposition 187, which would deny free public education and some other non-emergency public services to illegal immigrants, arises from damage done by Brennan's, and the court's, hubris.

SOCIAL SECURITY used to be called the third rail of politics, but illegal immigration is the real third rail that both political parties are afraid to touch. Cops who find illegal aliens are under orders not to turn them in to the feds. And the federal government's own border guards have their hands tied by the higher-ups as well. Now that Hispanics are the largest minority in the country, and with the country closely divided politically, neither party wants to risk alienating the Hispanic vote by enforcing immigration laws.

They rounded up some of the usual suspects the other day, 24 purported illegal aliens who were among the usual crowd of day laborers who gather at an East Baltimore 7-Eleven, waiting for contractors and other employers to drive onto the lot and hire them. On Tuesday, though, several of the cars that pulled in bore immigration agents. Using one widely accepted estimate, the arrests of the Baltimore 24 reduced the number of illegal aliens still at large in the country to about 11,999,976.

Blaine Young, president of Frederick County's board of commissioners, has plans to make Frederick "the most unfriendly county in the state of Maryland to illegal aliens. " And while he said some localities might cringe at such a title, "we wear that with a badge of honor. " County officials - motivated by a high-profile murder charge against an alleged illegal immigrant - are attempting to craft sweeping legislation to prohibit undocumented workers from getting jobs and renting homes.