The Gates of Freedom

This past Monday, Hugh Hewitt had Bill Bennett on for an hour of great radio.

But the best part of the time came at the very end (Start at 33:00). In talking about the current immigration debate, Bennett framed the big picture like this:

“It’s a place of dreams…the amazing thing about America is that it is a place where dreams actually do come true….” [Bennett quoting Bernard DeVoto]

I was wandering around the country, I was going to schools teaching. This young woman in California said “You love this country don’t you?” I said “Yeah!” She said “Why?” I said to her “There is a simple test, the ‘Gates Test’. Every country has gates, and here is the test. When they raise the gates, which way do people run? Do they run in or do they run out?”

Every time we raise the gates, people run in. When we don’t raise the gates, people run in, which is what we are talking about today. You have gates, you have fences, and people still run in. Why?

Because it is a place where dreams come true. In the long story of inhumanity and misery, the American achievement is high and it is unique….

I think that many conservatives when making their arguments against this current piece of flawed legislation need to cite the 'Gates Test'. The overriding message should be that while we oppose this political contrivance, but we welcome immigration....legal immigration.

I am for some form of normalization for current illegals, but not amnesty. While immigration should be welcomed, it should not necessarily be convenient. Just because we open the gates, does not mean the trip should not be without consequence to the traveler.

UPDATE: For a much more cogent defense of the mindset for a lot of national security, law & order conservatives on this, read Andy McCarthy's Corner entry: "I don't want to kick the illegals out of the country....the illegals have chosen to be illegal so it's not unfair to make them live with that choice..."