Can’t take the high ground with selective definition of ‘moral’
Source: dailyherald
Is the title of an outstanding editorial written by Chris Bailey in the Daily herald. I liked it so much I'm reprinting the whole thing here, something we very rarely do...
“Separating families should be illegal. I mean, it’s a moral thing.”
So said Fernando Leyva, president of the 14-member Illinois Alliance for Legal Immigration group, of the split families that could result from Carpentersville’s decision to pursue police training for immigration enforcement under Section 287(g).
Those who want U.S. immigration laws enforced, already frequently labeled racists, now apparently are immoral, too.
Must be nice to have such selective morality that one can argue enforcement of immigration law that splits families is wrong, but family splits created when one member slips across the border to establish an illegal beachhead here are OK.
In fact, the “morality” argument Leyva made while promoting a boycott in protest of such training struck me as so odd that I scurried to my dictionary to be sure my memory of the definition of “moral” was actually correct.
“Of or concerned with the principles of right or wrong conduct,” said definition No. 1.
“Conforming to principles of right conduct,” said No. 2, confirming my long-held definition as accurate.
Nearly everyone I know thinks following society’s laws and mores is “right conduct” and that if you don’t practice such, consequences should be expected. But Leyva’s views go beyond hypocrisy to a moral logic that is conveniently convoluted.
“The 287(g) training is worse than the actual ordinance because 287(g) is an actual law,” said Leyva. That’s because he knows a real law is harder to ignore than a tabled proposed ordinance with potential constitutionality problems.
I have no real problem with the boycott idea, a form of protest revered in our history, or even using “morality” as an argument. As long as I also get to ask if it’s moral to enter the United States illegally, to drive without a license or mandatory car insurance, to receive free health care at the expense of legal citizens, to pay in-state tuition when one is not a legal resident of the state; or to steal someone else’s identity to get a job.
That illegal immigrants participate in one or more of those behaviors is a fact, not evidence of moral turpitude on the part of those who point those behaviors out. But I doubt Leyva and other apologists for illegal immigrants will quit using the argument.
Inducing guilt via the intellectual bankruptcy of political correctness still works well to deflect people from truths others would prefer stay hidden. It’s why some people can argue with a straight face that listing those arrested for driving without a license or insurance is unfair and wrong because the vast majority have Hispanic surnames. Under the rationale of political correctness, to note that simple fact is a far bigger moral offense than is breaking the law.
But that bizarre notion must be postulated because there is no real moral argument that can be made on behalf of illegal entry. And by definition, illegal entrants don’t have the paperwork required to obtain driver’s licenses and jobs legally, so they turn to other means, often fraudulent paperwork. That paperwork often comes via identity theft, the fastest growing crime in the nation, according to the FBI, and the genesis of Department of Homeland Security raids on meatpacking plants in six states last week.
Of course, illegal immigrants also can hope the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Gov. Rod Blagojevich will confer many of the benefits of citizenship on them with the swirl of a pen, a basic intent of the “immigration blueprint” put forth by the group and the governor last week.
As was the case with AllKids health insurance, the governor makes no distinction between legal and illegal. And as usual, he has no idea how much this latest pandering will cost, only that legal taxpayers will pay for it.
But you can’t complain. It’s a moral thing, you know.
H/T Bad-ass Ev
Technorati Tags: illegal immigration, chris bailey, 287g,
Is the title of an outstanding editorial written by Chris Bailey in the Daily herald. I liked it so much I'm reprinting the whole thing here, something we very rarely do...
“Separating families should be illegal. I mean, it’s a moral thing.”
So said Fernando Leyva, president of the 14-member Illinois Alliance for Legal Immigration group, of the split families that could result from Carpentersville’s decision to pursue police training for immigration enforcement under Section 287(g).
Those who want U.S. immigration laws enforced, already frequently labeled racists, now apparently are immoral, too.
Must be nice to have such selective morality that one can argue enforcement of immigration law that splits families is wrong, but family splits created when one member slips across the border to establish an illegal beachhead here are OK.
In fact, the “morality” argument Leyva made while promoting a boycott in protest of such training struck me as so odd that I scurried to my dictionary to be sure my memory of the definition of “moral” was actually correct.
“Of or concerned with the principles of right or wrong conduct,” said definition No. 1.
“Conforming to principles of right conduct,” said No. 2, confirming my long-held definition as accurate.
Nearly everyone I know thinks following society’s laws and mores is “right conduct” and that if you don’t practice such, consequences should be expected. But Leyva’s views go beyond hypocrisy to a moral logic that is conveniently convoluted.
“The 287(g) training is worse than the actual ordinance because 287(g) is an actual law,” said Leyva. That’s because he knows a real law is harder to ignore than a tabled proposed ordinance with potential constitutionality problems.
I have no real problem with the boycott idea, a form of protest revered in our history, or even using “morality” as an argument. As long as I also get to ask if it’s moral to enter the United States illegally, to drive without a license or mandatory car insurance, to receive free health care at the expense of legal citizens, to pay in-state tuition when one is not a legal resident of the state; or to steal someone else’s identity to get a job.
That illegal immigrants participate in one or more of those behaviors is a fact, not evidence of moral turpitude on the part of those who point those behaviors out. But I doubt Leyva and other apologists for illegal immigrants will quit using the argument.
Inducing guilt via the intellectual bankruptcy of political correctness still works well to deflect people from truths others would prefer stay hidden. It’s why some people can argue with a straight face that listing those arrested for driving without a license or insurance is unfair and wrong because the vast majority have Hispanic surnames. Under the rationale of political correctness, to note that simple fact is a far bigger moral offense than is breaking the law.
But that bizarre notion must be postulated because there is no real moral argument that can be made on behalf of illegal entry. And by definition, illegal entrants don’t have the paperwork required to obtain driver’s licenses and jobs legally, so they turn to other means, often fraudulent paperwork. That paperwork often comes via identity theft, the fastest growing crime in the nation, according to the FBI, and the genesis of Department of Homeland Security raids on meatpacking plants in six states last week.
Of course, illegal immigrants also can hope the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Gov. Rod Blagojevich will confer many of the benefits of citizenship on them with the swirl of a pen, a basic intent of the “immigration blueprint” put forth by the group and the governor last week.
As was the case with AllKids health insurance, the governor makes no distinction between legal and illegal. And as usual, he has no idea how much this latest pandering will cost, only that legal taxpayers will pay for it.
But you can’t complain. It’s a moral thing, you know.
H/T Bad-ass Ev
Technorati Tags: illegal immigration, chris bailey, 287g,
posted by jakejacobsen @ 8:37 PM
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