Monday, June 12, 2006

I can think of better uses for $200 billion

A recent (Mobile) Press-Register poll finds that when it comes to illegal immigration, Alabamians are readier to punish the immigrants themselves than the people who create the demand for them. While 56 percent of poll respondents backed the idea of rounding up and deporting all illegal immigrants, a majority didn't support making it a serious crime to hire such people.

One political scientist said the use of the term "illegal immigrants" instead of "undocumented migrants" could have affected the results. He also questioned how many respondents, including those who called for deportation, have hired an illegal immigrant personally before. I'd be quite interested to see the results if the pollsters mentioned that it would cost more than $200 billion to deport all of the illegal immigrants we have now.