I was handing out campaign literature today in former Asheville City Councilman Joe Dunn’s neighborhood. He already had a sign up for the candidate, so I tried to decide if I should be fiscally conservative and skip his house or inclusive and leave a flyer. I opted to be inclusive, and on my way back, Joe met me and handed me back the flyer, stating he had contributed to the campaign and didn’t need one. He also called my attention to some aspects of Heath Shuler’s proposed immigration bill that I had overlooked.
I had gone no further than to suppose that Shuler was trying to get in front of Dr. Carl Mumpower’s “anti-immigration†stances. I scoffed at the irony of trying to cure the maladies introduced by Mexicans draining social services by attacking Mexicans who are working and paying income taxes, and moved on. Joe, however, pointed out what a government-grower this bill would be.
It calls for the hiring of 8000 more border control agents, and more immigration and customs agents. It would provide for aerial surveillance, computer networking, “workplace enforcement,†and expanded detention facilities and courts. And, of course, what would a government program be without the media campaign for education and outreach?
