In bullying immigrant kids, Miller brings a bad idea back from the dead
OK, let's fight.
As with most manual labor in California, Latinos get the credit for the paint job that turned the state dark blue. The institution we value most -- and of which we are most protective -- is family. Attack that, and we'll haunt you for 100 years. As California Republicans learned, we don't forgive -- or forget.
And we'll never forget Prop. 187 -- or its despicable objective of expelling undocumented kids from school. That kind of radical policy change is mean-spirited, counterproductive and unfair.
After all, illegal immigrants pay taxes -- payroll, sales, property, etc. Some of those tax dollars go to fund the public schools -- which would then exclude their children? The last time a ruling authority tried to pull a stunt that crooked, wooden crates of tea wound up floating in Boston Harbor.
It's illogical to complain that immigrants are a burden on society, and then make the burden worse by ensuring that they -- and their children -- can't use education to become productive. Besides, America isn't a Charles Dickens novel. We don't punish children for the sins of their parents.
Miller's thinking -- such that it is -- seems to be that, if illegal immigrants knew that they couldn't enroll their children in public schools, they would stay in their home country no matter how dangerous or destitute.
That is dizzying logic. Just because this guy is obsessed with immigrants doesn't mean he understands them. Clearly, he doesn't.
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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.
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