One Argument, 12 Million Holes

January 18, 2008
New York Times
Unknown Author

A big debate surrounding the upcoming election is the growing problem of illegal immigration. This article examines the Republican's stance on what is to be done with the 12 million illegal aliens already in our country. With use of quotes and televised debates, the author of this article shows how many of the Republicans have no exact solution on how to solve this issue. The author does examine some different strategies. For instance, the author points out that Mike Huckabee signed the "No Amnesty" pledge, which in essence is committing him to the cause that "all 12 million illegal immigrants must be expelled"; however, Huckabee provides no way of how this could be done. Or there is Fred Thompson who thinks attrition is the best way to tackle this problem. Attrition is where there is a constant crack down on employers giving jobs to illegal immigrants and people renting to illegal immigrants; however, this has proved to be difficult regulate. The author then goes on to compare interviews of the same candidate being asked the question about what to do with these people already in our country. This same question was asked at different times and the answers wind up being contradictory. This article was definitely interesting!

However, this article's bias almost made me stop reading it. The article roasts the Republican candidates. Yet, the author shows no alternative stance which is even half way to his liking. He mentions that the Democratic view is better; however, then does not support this with evidence. The author does effectively show that there needs to be more serious thought put towards this topic; however, the way he presents this case isolates many of the readers. Hopefully by election time ALL of the candidates will have a better response than I found in this article when asked, "What is to be done with the 12 MILLION illegal aliens already living in our country?"