Flagging the Heritage Foundation for an absurdity is like calling the Oakland Raiders on roughing, but occasionally the offender is just too overt to ignore:
Lest we forget, immigrants who enter this country through unauthorized channels are breaking the law, and “an amnesty program that ignores this criminal behavior will only contribute to a general disrespect for the law.”
Ever driven above 65 miles per hour on the freeway? Ever noticed everyone else doing it too? Ever jaywalked? Yeah, thought so. The statutes are filled with selective laws: legislation passed so police have the option of cracking down, but widely understood to stand no prospect for comprehensive enforcement. And unlike speeders, or jaywalkers, illegal immigrants live as if they've broken the law: shadow citizens, existing on the margins of society, afraid to shine or shout lest the long arm of the government reach out to toss them a couple hundred miles south.
If we're worried that unenforced or widely-ignored laws will invalidate the superstructure of respect that keeps the state strong -- and my is it funny to see the Heritage Foundation adopting that concern -- you start by addressing brazen, universally violated statutes, not immigration. If we're just a bunch of hacks, though, who genuinely believe government power is unjust but are groping for every argument we can find to rationalize our xenophobia, looking out for the laws by attacking impoverished immigrants makes perfect sense.
