By Paul Nachman
07/09/2013
One of the most tiresome phrases associated with today’s immigration to the U.S. is that "the system is broken." It’s often a cynical phrase, too, since some of those who utter it were instrumental in the "breaking."
But it’s really not a matter of breaking. Instead, enforcement has been systematically suppressed or gutted, and then those responsible have the chutzpah* to complain about the resulting chaos as a preface to offering their snake-oil "fixes."
Still, the following use of "broken" in the general context of the Senate bill (S.744) seems appropriate.
The bill doesn’t beat the broken status quo. It codifies it.
That excellent statement was by commenter ADTurnbull at an article scourging the bill by Bill Kristol and Rich Lowry at National Review Online [Kill the Bill: Passing any version of the Gang of Eight’s bill would be worse than passing nothing, July 9, 2013].
Turnbull’s comment is also a fitting rejoinder to the stupid — but deviously effective — claim that "we have de facto amnesty now."
* "Chutzpah is a yiddish term that roughly translates as 'gall' or 'nerve.' Borscht-belt comedians have historically illustrated its meaning with the following example: a young man kills his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court because he’s an orphan."
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