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FAC: Terrorists Breathe Air, Just Like Humans!

David Weigel | 5.17.2007 9:42 AM

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Isaac Chotiner's post about the looming immigration compromise is short enough to quote:

I did enjoy Mark Krikorian's take on the issue:

If the Senate is going to repeat the 1986 "grand bargain" (amnesty up front for promises of enforcement in the future), every senator needs to understand that he is voting to give legal status to terrorists.

The logic behind this claim is simple: If we legalize a lot of people, some of them will likely be terrorists. Anyway, I think Krikorian's logic should be extended to all sorts of public policies. For instance, lawmakers who support clean air laws should realize that they are really just voting for terrorists to breathe clean air!

I'd add that Krikorian's theory was beaten with lead pipes and tossed in an unmarked grave by the two GOP frontrunners at the last debate. John McCain:

My friend, the people that came -- that almost attacked us at Fort Dix -- thank God they did not -- those people didn't come here across our borders, they came with visas that were expired. So we've got to enforce our border. That's our first and foremost priority. But we also have to have a comprehensive solution and it has to be bipartisan.

Rudy Giuliani:

The reality is, we've got to be sensible about immigration. If we do the kinds of things that some of the people here are talking about, this country's going to be in greater danger; it is going to be more insecure; we're going to face a situation in which terrorists like the Fort Dix people, three of whom were illegal, can find a big underground to hide in.

Farewell, "terrorists will sneak across the Rio Grande an' nuke us!" theory. We hardly knew ye.

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NEXT: Border Patrol Finishes in Middle of Pack

David Weigel is a contributing editor at Reason.

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