A. Barton Hinkle on Opposition to Legal Immigration

You only have to scratch the debate over illegal immigration a little to see the degree to which legal technicalities are orthogonal to the main issue. Take the bill this year in Virginia's General Assembly requiring a citizenship check of everyone taken into custody. Why citizenship? Plenty of resident aliens are present in the country lawfully. The notion that immigrants, legal or otherwise, are taking "our" jobs relies on the assumption that one person has more claim on an open position than another. This isn't so, writes A. Barton Hinkle. The only person with a claim on the job is the one cutting the paycheck, and he should be able to hire whomever he wants.