Hey Cowboy, Stop Treating the Border Like a "Border State Thing..."*

"If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they have been brought there by no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart." — Rick Perry


And if you think you were elected governor so you could feel good about yourself and better than us, I don't think you have a head, Governor.


Tuition support for indocumentados — illegal immigrants, Governor, you keep forgetting that first word, is a magnet, one of the things that draws them across the border to Texas (and now California, God help us, like they need more encouragement.) 


You may not know this — and I suspect that will become a recurring theme of this piece — but the young people of your state are already being badly served by your state university system.  Your state colleges are already passing over native students of all races with their in-state tuition discounts in favor of actively recruiting more profitable out of state students. Now you decide to add another favored class, financially subsidizing a privileged group that, let's face it, most liberal college leaderships will feel ideologically challenged to give preference to in any case.


College admission is a zero-sum game, Governor.  There are only so many seats. And anything you do that adds difficulty for the legally-resident kids of your state, regardless of race, creed or color, is simply wrong.  I understand you were handed a fait accompli by the Texas State Legislature, but that doesn't mean you have to like it, defend it or insult the people who disagree with you.


Illegal Immigration, Governor, in case you weren't aware of this, is a complication that metastizes across every other issue you claim to be addressing effectively.


Has your crack campaign staff told you that 40% — nearly half if you can't do that math with your custom Lucchese boots on — of the jobs you boast of Texas having created have gone to illegal immigrants?  Sure, those are the crappy, low-end jobs, most likely.  But do you know who that hurts?  The legally-resident children of Texas, Governor, black, white, brown and yellow.


Do you know what those crappy, low-end jobs are Governor?  They're the first jobs, the starter jobs, the jobs that introduce the kids of your state to working for a living,to dealing with bosses, coworkers and customers,  to taking home a paycheck, to spending and saving and making budgets and paying your salary.  They're crummy jobs, by and large, the kinds the kids take — used to take — on summer vacations, between semesters, over the holidays.  Delivering pizza, working the McD's counter, working for their uncle's gardening firm, low-end, low-pay, vitally important jobs at that stage of the kids' lives.


Only now when they go to apply for those jobs, they're being done by — guess who? — middle-aged indocumentados who ain't moving on, up or out to make room for a new generation of workers.  What does that tell the kids about how much Texas and you value their futures and well-being, governor?


You know who really hates this, Governor?  Hispanics.  You know why? Because it's their kids being affected the most.  Indocumentados don't really threaten my job; not too many folks scoot under the fence down in San Ysidro to annotate Restoration comedies.  But Hispanic parents hate illegals — and they do — because they see their kids' jobs being handed over to these intruders.  It's their kids' futures being cut short.  You could have an Hispanic kid whose family has been in Texas since Seguin and Los Tejanos fought at the Alamo, and he will not be able to get a job if an employer can get away with hiring an indocumentado who will work for less, under worse conditions and take more crap because he has to.


Healthcare?  Have you been to any city emergency room in Texas, governor?  The indocumentados place a huge load on emergency services for basic health care... health care that in too many cases they do not pay for.


Respect for law?  Tell me how sanctuary cities encourage respect for law.  Tell me how you condemning Arizona for trying to uphold the law encourages respect for the law.

Actually crime?  How many Houston PD officers were wounded or killed by indocumentados since 2006, Governor?  How many statewide?


And finally, Governor, stop treating the border like a "border state thing" because we're behind your border and the indocumentados move on to our states as well.  If they were just setting down and squatting in CA, AZ and TX, maybe you'd be justified in embracing your inner Huckabee and doing what feels good no matter how many cops it kills, but they don't and you're not.  Act like a national political figure or get out of the race.




*Props to Dave in Texas over at Ace of Spades for the inspiration...