Run for the Border

Border patrol agents will now have the power to deport illegal immigrants caught within 100 miles of the U.S. border, eliminating in many cases the intervening authority of an immigration judge to review, for example, asylum requests. The system as it stands is hardly ideal, but the idea of having the officer who makes an arrest hand down verdict and sentence as well makes me a little uneasy. Since at least one reader suggested that I be sent "back to Meh-hee-co" after I wrote a pro-outsourcing piece (it'd have to be two trips, since I've never been to Mexico), maybe I should watch my back.