The Great Immigration Panic Of The Early 2000s

The NY Times in a hard-hitting editorial denounced the U.S. drift to "restrictionism" -- the attitude "that illegal immigrants deserve no rights, mercy or hope." Even the presidential candidates, supposedly more open to finding a fair solution to the problem, are focusing on "secure borders" (McCain) or are disappointedly mute (Obama and Clinton). The stepped up enforcement -- the raids, charging the undocumented with criminal offenses -- is the obvious sign, but it extends as well to the clogged channels of legal migration. The Times feels there has generally been "something pragmatic and welcoming at the American core" that is now being "eclipsed, or is slipping away'. But polls indicate that not entirely true. Only political nerve seems to be failing our candidates who have either are veering toward restrictionism or have fallen silent before it.