dteowner
Shoegazer
You left out a salient point, PJ.This is a bit of a tangent, but I thought it'd be interesting to hear what especially "frog-march-em-to-the-border" dte thinks of this particular bleeding-heart illegal immigration story:
[ http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/04/nyregion/04immigrant.html ]
Salient points:
* Chinese illegal immigrant, who is mentally ill, and unable to either defend herself in immigration court or obtain travel documents needed for her deportation.
* Been in jail for about a year.
* Suffered abuse in China before coming to the US.
* Likely to die fairly soon if no-one intervenes.
* Her sister (presumably in the country legally) has offered to swap places with her to save her life.
So, dte -- what would you do? Put her on a rowboat in LA and point her west? Something else, what?
I don't suppose you're doubting the quality and capability of government-supplied health care, are you?after noting that a government psychiatrist had deemed her competent to participate in the hearing.
It's a sad story, but as I understand the immigration laws, she has to say one word: "Asylum". Say that word and her case goes thru different channels which might be better able to deal with her unusual circumstances. But let's skip that detail for now. How did she get sick in the first place? Breaking the law in China. We can debate the one child rule if we so desire, but it's the law of the land over there. So she breaks Chinese law, then runs to avoid prosecution, then breaks the law repeatedly in the US. In the end, if you move outside the legal system, you don't get to demand the protections it affords. So, yes, I put her on a plane and let the Chinese known they've got someone that needs help coming their way.