It's the Illegals' Fault

Did you know that one reason your credit card rate is so high is because some people don't pay their bills so credit card companies have to collect more from the people who do pay? Likewise, when you go to your local retail store, the cost of the goods there has been raised to cover the money lost from people stealing from the store. It's sad but true that a lot of the money we pay for goods and services are higher because some other people don't pay. It's sort of a tax the innocent pay to help defray the costs caused by the guilty. We can whine that it's not fair but there's nothing we can do about it – except perhaps crack down on the guilty!

Have you ever been walking out of a store and a clerk stops you at the door and asks to see your receipt? It happens. I could make a big fuss and rant that it's “Nazi-like” to be asked for “my papers” but I don't. It's a nuisance but I know the clerk is trying to reduce theft from the store and ultimately I know that less theft means lower prices for everyone. So I just show my receipt to the clerk and then go about my business.

As I listen to the debate raging about the AZ law, I hear some of the same whining. People are upset that the crack down on illegal immigration might mean that innocent Latinos will be stopped and asked to show their papers. Welcome to the real world!! The innocent sometimes pay a price because of the guilty and immigration is no exception. In the effort to find illegal immigrants, a few citizens or legal immigrants might be asked to produce their IDs. How is that so different than me having to show a receipt to a store clerk?

The thing that annoys me is how the liberals' anger is being directed at the people who are trying to reduce crime and not at the people committing the crime. If illegal immigration weren't such a problem, there wouldn't be a need to crack down on illegal immigrants. If illegals were rare, Americans of Mexican descent would less likely be seen as possible illegals. But it is precisely because there are so many illegals that some citizens and legal immigrants are looked at with suspicion.

Now liberals are very predictable and I already know what they're thinking even as I write this: they are thinking that such a crack down will only target Hispanics and thus be a form of discrimination. It would be like a store clerk who only stops black customers at the door and asks to see their receipts. The AZ law specifically prohibits racial profiling. People cannot be stopped for just any reason but, instead, there must be some preceding infraction such as a traffic violation. If anyone of any race any where is stopped because of a traffic violation, he will always be asked to produce an driver's license. In most states, proof of legal residency is required in order to obtain a driver's license. So if a person stopped in AZ can produce a driver's license, that alone should be enough to establish legal residency. However, if a person is not able to produce an ID, then the status of legal residency might be questioned further. It's common sense, really.

I sometimes think that, if I were the violent type, I would beat the crap out of anyone I saw trying to steal something from a store. It's their fault that I have to pay more for everything I buy. It's their fault that I sometimes get stopped and have to show my receipt. I know that I'm innocent but it's their fault that I have to prove my innocence. Why don't liberals feel the same way about illegal immigrants? They should be ticked off. If liberals are truly concerned with protecting the rights of innocent people, they should realize that it's the illegal immigrants that are causing the problem. If this were a genuine concern, liberals should be equally ticked off with career politicians who aren't doing anything about the problem. If you ask me, they are complicit in the problem just like a clerk would be if he looked the other way while thieves shoplift from his store. Of course, liberals are never genuine. They have absolutely no interest in stopping or reducing illegal immigration. They merely raise the claim of racial profiling as a red herring. They are playing the race card just like they do with any other issue. It's the only play they know.