by Tom Gallagher
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Today's New York Times editorial captures the high price of Alabama's radical new immigration law. For those championing the move to airlift more than 11 million undocumented immigrants back to their birth countries or those trying to concoct a dastardly law like Alabama's, they ought to pay close attention to the true cost of such ideas.
Back in 2004, President George Bush proposed comprehensive immigration reform:
"'Over the generations, we have received energetic, ambitious optimistic people from every part of the world. By tradition and conviction, our country is a welcoming society,' he said. 'Every generation of immigrants has reaffirmed the wisdom of remaining open to the talents and dreams of the world.'"
Today's Times editorial concludes:
"There should be no doubt about the moral repugnance of Alabama’s law, which seeks to deny hardworking families the means to live. But even some of the law’s most enthusiastic supporters are beginning to acknowledge the law’s high economic cost. There is growing talk of revising or repealing the legislation. The sooner Alabama does so -- and other states learn -- the better."
