Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., suggests that state lawmaker Russell Pearce has even out-Tancradoed border hardliner Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.
Flake, a vocal proponent of a comprehensive approach to immigration reform, tells Plugged In that Pearce's push for the mass deportation of illegal immigrants is simply not practical:
"I've been asking those who say we shouldn't offer anything that they term 'amnesty,' that we shouldn't deal those who are here illegally: what is the alternative? Not even Tancredo says you're going to deport them all. Nobody in the past has been, I guess, that forthcoming about actually doing that.
"But I would have just two words: Ask Chandler.
"I think the advice you'd get from them is that it's a little more difficult than it sounds."
Flake is referring to the hyper-controversial July 1997 Chandler round-up of suspected illegal immigrants that led to costly litigation and long-term tensions between City Hall and Hispanic U.S. citizens.
Pearce, a Republican state representative from Mesa, caused an uproar after waxing nostalgic for the Eisenhower Administration's offensively named "Operation Wetback" in a radio interview.
Pearce said Wednesday on KJZZ (91.5 FM): "We know what we need to do. In 1953, (President) Dwight D. Eisenhower put together a task force called 'Operation Wetback.' He removed in less than a year 1.3 million illegal immigrants. They must be deported."
Don't count on it, Flake said.
"I think it was Jon Stewart who put it best," he continued. "For those who think we're going to deport 11 million or 12 million people, one name: Elián González. Look what we went through to try to deport one Cuban. Multiply that, he said, by 11 million."
Flake concludes:
"The situation, in reality, is that at least a third and up to a half of those here have some tie that binds. A child who is a citizen. A spouse who is a legal permanent resident. Family ties that make it more difficult. It's not a serious proposal, in my view." |
