The (usually) Sutherland Institute of Utah has weighed in on the illegal alien issue - and stepped off the scale on the wrong side.
While "compassion" exudes from the pontification, it seems directed solely towards our "neighbors" to the South; little consideration seems to given to the remaining millions who would dearly love to come to enjoy the still remaining freedoms available in the United States.
No compassion seems to be proffered to the thousands of Utahns whose identity has been stolen to allow the "law-abiding" successful evaders of border enforcement or those ignoring current visa requirements to obtain employment. The report indicates that "sensible conservatives" should work to dismantle the welfare state. How sensible is it to dismantling welfare by adding millions more to it OR by accepting those who have already found the way to successfully partake of it?
In one paragraph, Sutherland opines that it "looks to the United States Congress to create and effectively enforce a coherent immigration and border security policy as a top priority." Later is this espoused belief, "If a person of good will comes to our state looking to make Utah a better place to live, work and raise a family, then we should welcome that person – from wherever and however they come to us." There seems to be a large inconsistency here.
In an obvious observation, Sutherland declares illegal immigrants are "real people with real families in search of America’s fullest privileges," but is it America and Americans that are breaking up families or is it the illegal immigrant himself? Do those "fullest privileges" include the welfare state that the authentic conservative Sutherland Institute decries?
The report states "Illegal immigrants who have not engaged in other forms of criminal behavior should not be exploited." Surely Sutherland is not intimating that those who have engage in other forms of criminal behavior SHOULD be exploited. A real authentic conservative exploits no one. A real authentic conservative obeys the law (federal and state) and does not hire an illegal with a wink and nod at the presentation of fake or stolen identities.
Their third expressed 'sentiment' states: "We should seek economic transparency and personal accountability from all Utah residents. State laws, policies, and regulations must hold illegal immigrants accountable for otherwise law-abiding behavior – to live as equals is to assume the mantle of full citizenship, self-reliance, and economic productivity."
I find it rather astounding the Sutherland feels they are the sole determinant of what constitutes an "authentic conservative" (cited 44 times in the report) in Utah. A true authentic conservative exhibits compassion to all of God's children, not just those "neighbor(s), south of the border." A true conservative would not consider awarding citizenship in the greatest country in the world to those who openly defy the laws upon which the very basis of freedom rests.
