From the Right

/

Politics

In a Huff Over Immigration

Ruben Navarrett Jr. on

Oh really? What Brown said was harmless and comparable to the mayor of New York City celebrating a Yankees World Series victory by declaring to Americans: "Today, you're all New Yorkers."

In the remainder of his remarks, Brown did what Democrats always do: act morally superior to Republicans. The governor took a swipe at his predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"It wasn't very long ago that the governor of California was outlawing driver's licenses for people who were undocumented from Mexico," he said. "That's not the law anymore."

Brown didn't mention that there is some nuance concerning licenses, and that during the debate over issuing them, he tangled with immigrant activists because he wanted the licenses stamped with language making it clear that they were for driving purposes only. Some on the left called the qualifier a "scarlet letter" that would promote ethnic profiling by police. In the end, Brown won.

Finally, the governor said, there should be freer movement between neighboring countries.

"If we can put a man on the moon," he said, "we can put a man from Mexico to California in 20 minutes."

I bet we can cut that time in half if the crops are ready for harvest and it's hiring season.

 

Now serving his third term as governor spread out over four decades, Brown sometimes approaches the immigration issue by taking every side and trying to please everyone. In other respects, the idealist has become the pragmatist.

After all, the 76-year-old has been around the block -- and then some. In between his stints in the governor's office, he served as mayor of Oakland and state attorney general. In Oakland, he heard from Democratic constituents about how African-Americans are crowded out of neighborhoods and losing jobs to illegal immigrants. As attorney general, Brown signed an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to participate in Secure Communities, which essentially deputizes local and state police to enforce federal immigration law. And as governor, he tangled with the left again when, under pressure from the Obama administration, Brown vetoed the Trust Act, a bill that would have nullified the agreements with the federal government and prohibited local and state police from acting as immigration agents. Later, he signed a rewritten version.

And this is the same Jerry Brown who supposedly wants an open border? It sounds like conservatives such as Bill O'Reilly would do well to crack open their minds -- before they open their mouths.

========

Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.


Copyright 2014 Washington Post Writers Group

 

 

Comics

Daryl Cagle Tom Stiglich Kirk Walters Joey Weatherford Kevin Siers Pat Byrnes