You know that the question of illegal immigration--and not just in states bordering on Mexico--as a political issue begins to have some resonance when the Los Angeles Times runs a front-page story that seems to admit (despite the misleading title of the article) that either there is a problem, or at least there is a growing gap between the public and the policy makers. Also note that the article mentions that illegal immigration has dropped by 50% in areas patrolled by the Minutemen.
All this to the surprise of the L.A. Times, I guess. The piece is worth reading.
Some of you wrote to me asking whether Karl Rove was asked a question about immigration while at the Ashbrook Center. I can tell you that this question was asked more often than any other (but since I controlled the questions that were written on cards, I only asked it once). This is the way the question was formulated: "Would you please comment on the Bush administration’s positions on the border immigration problem?"
We just transcribed his response to the question and you can read it here.
Also note that you can listen to his speech, and to about fifteen minutes of Q & A, by going here.
The days of Libertarian laissez-faire on the issue of illegal immigration are coming to a close (thankfully). And the Minutemen help to eradicate one the major arguments used (by both liberals and libertarians) to support the current do-nothing policies -- hey, its inevitable, theres nothing that can be done! Well, horse feathers! A little political will and our problems on this front would be greatly diminished.
Is that a 50% drop in illegal immigration, or a 50% drop in apprehensions? Those are very different. The LAT articles one sentence mention doesnt really provide much info. Does anyone have any other stats?