If you take any of the pre-Civil War pro-slave Democrat speeches, substitute “illegal Immigrant” for “Slave”, you will see that the Democrat position has not changed in 150 years.

Pro-slave Democrats v Anti-slave Republicans

I’ll give you one further…

Do the above with Federalist papers of those who supported slavery, and who founded the Democrat party. Thomas Jefferson, for example, who wouldn’t even free his slaves upon his death. Who, against his better judgment, removed harsh rhetoric in the Constitution promoting slavery because of the need to gain larger support.

These are the facts of history. The “slaves” come today because:
1) Their corrupt nations give them no choices. It is far easier to ship the illegals off, with full support and documentation from that corrupt leadership, than to create a prosperous industry in their own nation
2) It is far easier for the illegal immigrants to abuse the corrupt system set up by their awful governments, than to stand up like the Revolutionaries in America did, and demand the freedoms that used to be guaranteed by our Constitution
3) Our corrupt Government would rather have the illegal votes to keep them in power, and the People under their crushing thumb. It is far easier to usurp the 10th Amendment when it appears that this is the majorities will, regardless of the propriety or veracity of that perceived will.

We have met our enemy, and he is us!
-Walt Kelly

You badly misquote me and misrepresent what I was saying.

I wrote:

“After reading See-Dubya’s 09 July post on illegal workers, I get the clear sense that he is very squishy on the immigration issue.”

I specifically cited your 09 July post about illegal workers, not your 18 July post about slave murders two centuries ago.

Many of the regular readers here were stunned to read your sympathetic 09 July response to the moderately pro-immigration MSN article you posted.

Among other things, MSN claimed that, “…..13% [of Americans] favored deportation and 78% favored offering citizenship.”

At least two national polls show almost the exact opposite.

Since all Blue Dog Democrats are running to the right of Republicans on immigration, I think we know which polls are accurate.

In your 09 July post you also wrote this: “…..we’ll need to increase our importation of legal labor…..to offset the economic difficulties that an absence of dirt-cheap, illegal labor will create.”

Actually, we won’t need to do anything.

Business owners will raise wages, recruit aggressively, improve benefits and working conditions, invest in labor saving machines and software, improve their management, create new products, change their product mix, and possibly import things they can’t produce here at a reasonable cost.

Business owners who can’t compete will go into new businesses or go bankrupt.

Back to your 18 July post.

I simply do not understand what you are saying.

The Bahamas to S.E. Florida smuggling route has existed for more than 30 years.

In the 1970′s and 1980′s close to 200 Haitians drowned.

Some drowned because smugglers made them jump into the water.

Most drowned because they had been willingly packed into rickety boats a mile off the coast, which gave them legal cover for refugee status.

All these people, then and now, alive and dead, knew the risks, and all of them PAID large amounts of money to be smuggled into the USA.

How in the world do you find a connection between this and the slave trade?

Finally, you skated right by my central argument.

A Haitian with $3000 could get a USA travel visa and a round trip plane ticket for half that amount, and then just stay here and not leave.

The only reason they are being smuggled is because there is some reason – almost always a bad reason – why they cannot get a USA visa.

Well said…It is wrong to have no sympathy for those that are abused or murdered in their unlawful attempt to get in the US illegally, and it is also wrong for those who champion ‘open borders ‘to claim that enforcing US border security and an orderly immigration process best suited for the economic and security needs of the lawful citizens of the US is racist and heinous while the Mexican government itself practices the same (with our tax money).

I abhor the choice prostitutes make to sell themselves (and break the law), but I’m still capable of sympathizing with their plight when they are abused or murdered by the disgusting denizens of their underworld.

Well said…It is wrong to have no sympathy for those that are abused or murdered in their unlawful attempt to get in the US illegally, and it is also wrong for those who open borders to claim that enforcing US border security and an orderly immigration process best suited for the economic and security needs of the lawful citizens of the US is racist and heinous while the Mexican government itself practices the same (with our tax money).

This post – comparing slave traders to modern immigrant smugglers – strikes me as completely bizarre.

I think the point of the post was what a society chooses to rally behind as their vehicle of social reform. Everyone’s banging the drum for the Iraq war when there could be a greater cause out there.

Keeping the illegals out of this country would do ‘us’ citizens a favor and it may do the illegals a favor as well. Man, some illegals actually think the streets are paved with gold in this country when they get off the boat.

Let’s face it this nutroot anti-war mentality has its roots in the hippie-batik, Vietnam era. “Anti-war” doesn’t really cradle any type of passionate movement unique to this generation it’s just worn-out, baby boomer hippies reaching back to the glory days for that last tab of LSD.

When Turner finished his painting in 1840, the Atlantic slave trade had been over for 30 years.

The U.S. ended slave importation in 1808, and would have ended it sooner, but Constitutional agreements set that year as the first possible.

By 1810 the British Navy had all but ended the slave trade to South America and the Carribean.

It is also important to note that at least 80% of illegal immigrants arrive in the USA legally, then they just don’t leave.

Why would you pay $3000 to a smuggler when you can get a temporary U.S. visa and a round trip plane ticket for half that price?

The answers should be obvious:

You were previously deported from the U.S., or you have a criminal record and can’t get a passport, or you are wanted for a previous crime in the U.S., or you are on some kind of watch list, or you have symptoms of a dangerous disease.

After reading See-Dubya’s 09 July post on illegal workers, I get the clear sense that he is very squishy on the immigration issue.

This post – comparing slave traders to modern immigrant smugglers – strikes me as completely bizarre.

although, i do feel that it is terrible what this man did to those in his boat. but, if they hadn’t colluded with him to break the law and wait to come here legally they would still be alive.

But the same can be said of prostitution. I abhor the choice prostitutes make to sell themselves (and break the law), but I’m still capable of sympathizing with their plight when they are abused or murdered by the disgusting denizens of their underworld.

And through it all stands the social services industry salivating over another batch of “victims” with which to mulct the treasury of large sums of grant money.

One thing more: various bills in Congress would appropriate money for fighting foreign trafficking that does not affect us. Given the state of our economy, becoming the world’s vice squad is a luxury the taxpayers can’t afford.

by today’s creative class, when they deign to pay it any attention at all.

From what I can tell, there is no creative class today. Certainly not in the league of Turner, Constable, Sargent, Whistler, etc…

They’re far too busy gluing together collages and dioramas of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay to care.

Awesome. Dioramas!! Yippee! Well, that and a video diary of one’s abortions.