Dean in Alabama: Don't Use Illegal Immigrants as Scapegoats

Here's a follow-up to a post from yesterday. From the B'ham Post-Herald:

Americans must not use the immigrant community as a scapegoat for some of the country's problems, Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told a group of civil rights advocates on Tuesday.

Dean stressed the importance of fighting for justice for all groups, including immigrants, who he said are increasingly being used as scapegoats by legislators, state officials and vigilante groups, such as the Minuteman Project, a volunteer group patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border to deter people from entering the country illegally.

"This group here knows about that (being used as scapegoats)," he said. "If you want America to succeed, you need a system that treats everybody justly. We need economic and social justice to make America work."

Many thoughtful people have questioned the wisdom of allowing hoards of illegal immigrants to enter the country undetected and undocumented. I don't see how that scapes anyone's goat.

While the Democratic Party has become resigned to the notion that more immigration - whether legal or illegal - is a great and wonderful thing, the Republican Party is currently embroiled in a bitter debate over just how far we should go in relaxing immigration controls that already seem inadequate. The President supports a more liberal immigration policy, but many of his fellow Republicans have openly rebelled against that position, on the sound principle that it is vitally important to regain control of the nation's borders.

Whichever side eventually triumphs, at least there is a meaningful debate on the issue of immigration among conservatives and within the Republican Party. Unfortunately, Howard Dean's Democrats seem to be taking a siesta on this issue, and have contributed next to nothing to one of the most far-reaching debates of our time.