RK ARCHIVE - Kaine vs. Corey on Immigration

Tim Kaine: "If we send out the signal we are not welcoming to people from foreign countries, the world-class companies will go somewhere else."

Corey Stewart: "Public safety trumps economic development..."[Kaine] needs to get his priorities straight."

Wow, where do we even start with this? How about the utterly fallacious "public safety" argument that Corey Stewart is making. So far, all the evidence is the exact opposite -- that immigrants, illegal or otherwise, actually have LOWER crime rates than non-immigrants. To the contrary, illegal immigrants are more the VICTIMS of crime than non-immigrants. So much for THAT theory.

So what "priorities" does Gov. Kaine need to get "straight" here? If illegal immigrants do NOT pose a public safety threat, but if harsh, over-the-top anti-immigrant rhetoric (e.g., the country's being "invaded") drives away businesses from Virginia, how does that help anyone in this state? Maybe Corey Stewart has the answer -- I strongly doubt it -- but for my money, I'm sticking with Tim Kaine on this one.

Comments

Wow (Pain - 11/28/2007 9:58:42 AM)

That's powerful.

I'm not a religious person in general, but I hold great respect for religious leaders who have the ability to cut through all the other rhetoric and get down to the nuts and bolts of it. Kudos to Father Creedon.

New Study on Use of Health Care System (PM - 11/28/2007 12:54:37 PM)

http://www.latimes.com/news/pr...

According to this study ---

Illegal immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries are 50% less likely than U.S.-born Latinos to use hospital emergency rooms in California, according to a study published Monday in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
The cost of providing healthcare and other government services to illegal immigrants looms large in the national debate over immigration.

According to my wife, typical of the anti-immigrant craziness was a decision to impose added paperwork requirements proving citizenship for Medicaid users. But research showed non-citizens were not using Medicaid. What happened? U.S. citizens in need often cannot come up with the documentation, and so Medicaid rolls have dropped dramatically in Virginia.

Father Creedon's a dynamo (Catzmaw - 11/28/2007 1:14:56 PM)

He really adheres to the fundamental Christian value of loving one's neighbor and judging not lest you be judged. He's an active participant in ecumenical goings-on in the Northern Virginia area, including inter-faith conferences and prayers with the Muslim community, and has promoted all manner of social justice outreach including youth trips to Appalachia to help build homes for poor people and support of sister parishes in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. There is an entire village in Haiti dependent upon the help of St. Charles Borromeo Church, led by Fr. Creedon. Every year people from that village come to Arlington where they sell their beautiful hand-made artwork and textiles. He's had Palestinians from Bethlehem visit and sell their hand-wrought olive wood sculptures. He's an enthusiastic fundraiser for Borromeo Housing, which is St. Charles Catholic Church's program for indigent and homeless women with children. He goes to Arlington County's jail every week where he celebrates Mass, counsels inmates, provides spiritual guidance, and tries to obtain help for inmates who approach him for assistance. No "Catholics Only", no questions about their crimes, no one seeking help turned away.

In comparing Letiecq's version of Christian work in action with Fr. Creedon's, guess who comes out on top in my book?