The reason for the silence is not the lack of a vital stake in the outcome of the amnesty debates. The reason for states going AWOL on the amnesty debate is the lack of political backbone among state leaders, Democrat and Republican alike.
The “dog that didn’t bark” is a familiar metaphor in detective stories, and it comes to mind in watching the amnesty debate as well. Don’t you think it odd that our governors and state lawmakers have been silent in the current debate over new amnesty legislation?
And anyone who thinks only the four southwest border states are affected by illegal immigration is blind. Every state with an international airport has hundreds of thousands if not millions of tourists, business travelers, guest workers and foreign students arriving each year on temporary visas. At least 40 percent of the illegal aliens arrived on a valid visa and then did not leave when it expired.
Obviously, state governments and state taxpayers have a huge stake in the debate over amnesty. So, the silence of state leaders in the amnesty debate is as strange as it is inexcusable.
State governments are always “at the table” lobbying on every other piece of federal legislation affecting state budgets, from education and the environment to transportation and health care. Why not immigration reform? Why are states AWOL in the amnesty debate?
There is no denying that state governments and state and local taxpayers will be seriously impacted if Congress enacts another amnesty for 10 to 30 million illegal aliens. So, why is that dog not barking?
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