KVNUFTP

DesNews blasts Sen. Bill Hickman

Last night we talked about an immigration reform proposal currently being drafted by Senator Bill Hickman of St. George. The Deseret Morning News has come out with an editorial that blasts not only the proposal, but Senator Hickman personally:

We’re sure state Sen. Bill Hickman is a decent soul. He likely worries about the well-being of his family, works hard, gives thanks for his blessings and good fortune. So it would not be fair to demonize him because of one particular issue: immigration.

We only wish he would do the same when it comes to the Latino community.

The D-News says, “it would not be fair to demonize [Senator Hickman] because of one particular issue: immigration.”  …but they’ll do it anyway…

…like those one-issue voters who see people as one-dimensional — pro-choice, anti-gay or bald-headed — Hickman appears to see brown people through one lens: legal or illegal? One can imagine him scowling at a Latino worker, then — upon learning the worker is here legally — seeing the man as a hard-working soul with wants and needs. Then upon learning the worker’s papers are expired, casting him once again back into the pit.

The hypocrisy is almost laughable, isn’t it?

I expect we’ll see a response from Senator Hickman on the Senate Site sometime soon. I’m also going to give him a call for an interview.

The D-News arrives at the right conclusion for the wrong reasons. I don’t know if Senator Hickman is an angry white male bigot- I’ve never met the guy. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he isn’t. Either way, that personal issue is peripheral.
The D-News proposal is one that sounds great on the pages of a newspaper but would be impossible to implement:

One dimensional human beings are for the movies. Living human beings deserve better. And many religions in Utah are trying to find a better way — a more humane way — of dealing with illegal immigrants.

Thinking that government can offer care and concern may be a fool’s errand, but government can try to be fair and attempt, however feebly, to deal with people on a case-by-case basis — as human beings.

Are there illegal immigrants who should be sent packing? Absolutely. But some deserve a chance to prove themselves.

A case by case basis? How do you have consistency? There HAS to be some kind of statute guiding criteria rather than which cases pull at the heart strings of bureaucrats. Going on a case by case basis sounds warm and fuzzy and makes us feel good, but it’s not practical.

Notwithstanding the poorly reasoned D-News editorial, I have real questions and concerns about Senator Hickman’s proposals. If there are going to be illegal aliens driving on Utah’s roads, isn’t it better to have at least some of them certified by the state as competent and safe drivers?

If there are going to be illegal aliens in Utah, isn’t it better that their kids become college educated and productive in our economy? Isn’t one of the gripes of the LouDobbsians that illegals take more from the system than they give? Isn’t education the way around this?

How could any small business in Utah possibly discern between which immigrants are legal and which are illegal? The same goes for landlords. Harsh laws could result in legal latino immigrants finding it difficult to obtain employment or housing.

Don’t our law enforcement officers have better things to do with their time than tracking down illegal but otherwise law abiding workers?

-Tom