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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Immigration excuses need some work Immigration excuses need some work By David Harsanyi It's confusing. Did you know some consider it racist to oppose illegal immigration but perfectly reasonable to support a system that casts illegal Mexican immigrants in the most menial and undesirable jobs? The enlightened, it would seem, need someone to wash the dishes when they are done with their seared ahi and pinot noir in the finest Cherry Creek bistros. Makes you wonder, though: Who are the bigots here? Speaking of bigots, Mexican President Vicente Fox says these illegals do jobs "that not even blacks want to do." Odious on its face, it gives you a taste of what El Presidente thinks of his northern citizenry - despite the tens of billions they send home each year. Here in our homeland, we're told that illegal immigrants aren't driving down wages, they're simply taking jobs Coloradans wouldn't dream of doing. In other words: We like slave labor. If you've taken Economics 101, however, you may be a bit perplexed by this silly contention. I whip out my handy "Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy" by Thomas Sowell - everyone should own a copy - and I discover in a market economy there's this thing called supply and demand, and it sets wages and costs. If there's no legal Denverite willing to bus tables at the Cherry Cricket, the restaurant would simply have to pay higher wages - even for immigrant workers. That may mean a bump in price of your hummus platter - a veritable tragedy. Which brings us to the true cost of those below-market-wage dishwashers. Colorado provides illegal immigrants free use of hospitals and city homeless shelters, while they make up around 20 percent of the Colorado jail population. And the state affords tens of thousands of immigrant children free schooling. Is it racist to point out these facts? Or do open-border advocates cleverly equate rational immigration control with irrational bigotry? If you want open borders and have no use for American sovereignty, just say so. This way, I can pack for Cancun. But while illegal immigration is still, well, illegal, the long-overdue discussion has landed at Mayor John Hickenlooper's feet. When I spoke to the mayor last week, he argued strongly that immigration was a federal matter beyond his control. And in many regards, he's absolutely right. It's not Hick's job to secure the border; we have plenty of other officials who ignore that job. But the "my hands are tied" act can only go so far. Hickenlooper's predecessor, Wellington Webb, felt completely comfortable issuing two executive orders on Denver immigration policy, saying, in essence, "Come on in!" This mayor has provided college scholarships to public school students and has no trouble showing up at any press conference relating to education, regardless of topic or location. Does the Colorado Constitution state that education policy falls to the mayor? Hickenlooper can influence policy beyond his charge. And there are two things he could do tomorrow. The first step should be an insistence that Denver police change their booking policy to include "illegal" as a designation (whether Mexican, Russian, Chinese, Canadian - especially Canadian - illegals) to start building a quantitative data bank of repeat offenders. Second, the mayor could check out the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which says that state and local governments may designate local officers to "perform a function of a federal immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension or detention of aliens in the United States." To achieve this, Hickenlooper would need to enlist the aid of Gov. Bill Owens and Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to petition the U.S. attorney general for such status (only two states have so far) and help make Denver less of a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. Though, this means the enlightened might have to mow their own lawns. The horror.
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