Scapegoating For Fun And Profit

Kentucky's Latino community is not too happy with state Senate Bill 6, an anti-immigration bill that would go further than Arizona's, would cost the state tens of millions a year, have much of the bill's enforcement procedures stripped due to Constitutional reasons, and be yet another embarrassment to the state.  Needless to say, Kentucky Latinos are not taking the legislation lightly.

"There is a sense of fear, a sense of rejection in the Latino community about this bill," said Andrés Cruz, editor and publisher of La Voz, an English/Spanish newspaper with a circulation of 10,000 that reports on Central Kentucky's Latin American community. "To me, the bill is simply political pandering."

Cruz and Marilyn Daniel, a volunteer attorney for Maxwell Street Legal Clinic, held a two-hour informational meeting about the controversial bill at the Lexington Public Library.

During the meeting, the group also learned about a rally at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 8 at the Capitol in Frankfort to oppose the legislation.

The Republican-controlled Senate approved the bill earlier this month; the Democratic-controlled House is to consider it when the legislative session resumes next week.

House leaders have said the House is unlikely to approve the bill. They compare it to Arizona's tough immigration law, which is being challenged in court.

The sponsor of Senate Bill 6, Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said Kentucky should approve the bill before neighboring states pass strict immigration laws and the Bluegrass State becomes a haven for illegal immigrants.

Williams is running for governor this year.

Gotta love the logic.  "If we don't get rid of them first, other states will make them our problem."

Of course the bill is pandering.  Latinos make up some one percent of the state's population.  Kentucky's a "haven for illegals" the way Antarctica is a "haven for swimwear".  It's a solution, and one that would cost tens of millions of dollars mind you, to a problem that just doesn't exist.

Never mind the bill would not only include the provisions of Arizona's bill that were removed due to Constitutional concerns, but exceeds them in scope of illegality, allowing cops to slap charges of felony smuggling with anyone traveling with an undocumented worker.

For a group of people who say they want smaller, less intrusive government, they want to turn Kentucky into a police state costing tens of millions per year.