State Rep. Debbie Riddle has unveiled one of the most ridiculous pieces of legislation in memory.
The Houston-area Republican wants the Texas Legislature to enact a law that makes it illegal for employers to hire illegal immigrants, unless they are — and this is no joke, even though it sounds like one — a maid or a gardener.
There’s no need here to itemize the ghastly stereotyping examples this legislation brings to mind.
Suffice it to say that exempting gardeners or maids falls into the category of gross insult to Texas residents of Hispanic descent, given that virtually all illegal immigrants living in Texas come across the border from Mexico.
Riddle’s response to the criticism from many quarters is bizarre as well. Homeowners or business owners need not be afraid to hire illegal immigrants to do work around the house, Riddle says.
What in the world ... ?
Yes, Texas and the three other states — New Mexico, Arizona and California — that sit on our nation’s border with Mexico have an illegal immigration crisis.
Arizona has taken controversial steps to deal with the issue, declaring that if the feds won’t solve the problem, it should fall on the states to take matters into their own hands.
Texas could wekk follow suit before the 2011 Legislature adjourns in late May.
But the state also has an enormous budget deficit, the size of which has yet to be determined.
Both issues — immigration and the budget — require serious solutions.
Rep. Riddle’s goofball illegal immigrant hiring bill doesn’t even come close to deserving the Legislature’s attention.
On natural disasters
Nothing like a disaster to expose our weak spots as Earth’s overmatched overlords.
Hurricane Katrina was not only tragic but galling in revealing a superpower’s inability to handle mass evacuation and its devastating exposure of flawed levees.
Haiti shows us the bottomless frustration of pouring recovery assistance into an impoverished nation that lacks government stability and leadership.
Last year’s BP disaster revealed how our exploration hubris can wreck not just a coastal economy but lay waste to ecosystems.
Japan’s earthquake, of course, reminds us again of the calculated risk of coastal development, though it’s certainly hard to avoid in an island nation. For the rest of the world, this tragedy may be most troubling for exposing the inherent hazard of seeking to harness the atom.
European leaders, who have moved toward nuclear energy as they struggled for energy independence, are already feeling the blow-back over nuclear reactor programs. ...
In a state grateful for mineral wealth, particularly the recent development in natural gas extraction, we should remember those riches come with their own calculated risks to people and the environment. ...
The point is we need to appreciate our fragile surroundings even as we give thanks for our mineral wealth. Rare though they may be, 8.9 earthquakes happen, large hurricanes will surge against levees, and blowout preventers do fail.
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