Mitt Romney, Republican presidential hopeful and former governor of Massachusetts, is not only getting scorned for being a Mormon, but for hiring a landscaping business that employed illegal aliens.
While governor, Romney had adopted a hard-line position against illegal immigration, signing legislation that permitted Massachusetts state troopers to arrest illegal immigrants. The liberal media, including columnists like Ruben Navarrette over at the Washington Post, are upset with Romney - not explicitly because of his views on illegal immigration, or so they say, but due to his "hypocritical" actions.
Romney's faux pas, of course, is accepting the work of the "Community Lawn Service with a Heart" company to maintain his grounds. It turned out that after The Boston Globe investigated the situation the business proved to use illegal aliens frequently in their operations.
Those like Navarrette believe Romney does not match his tough talk on illegal immigration with his walk, demanding he should have inquired about the company's workers, most notably the citizenship of the Hispanic employees it hired.
Navarrette must have forgotten the incessant cry of bigotry the left proclaims every time a racial incident involves a minority and a white person. In today's America, where political correctness reigns supreme, Navarrette's request could have quickly squelched Romney's presidential ambitions.
If Romney had listened to Navarrette's suggestion by approaching the employees and looking into the legality of their jobs, and it proved that they were legal citizens, the likelihood of Romney being labeled ignorant and racist would be high. All it would take is one agitated worker to tell another about the complaint, which could then find its way to a major news network, or worse, a group like the ACLU, and Romney might as well kiss his political career goodbye.
"Romney assumes Mexican is illegal" would be printed in bold on the front page of the Washington Post, with a sub-heading reading, "Is the former governor a racist?"
The liberals who want people that are strict on illegal immigration to "practice what they preach" are the same imbeciles that would make racist accusations as soon as an individual tries to expose an illegal alien and proves to be wrong. "How dare you think he's an illegal immigrant simply because he's Hispanic!?" or "that's not being tolerant" would be the typical rhetoric. Either way, one is bound to get criticized.
Individuals should not have to go around investigating whether someone is here legally or not (unless they want to, but as already stated, today's political environment makes that option foolish to anyone). Those agencies and institutions empowered to enforce immigration laws are responsible for these matters; not ordinary citizens and not a statesman walking out the front door to get his paper who happens to see Hispanics cutting his grass.
It is utterly insane to expect people to look into the citizenship of individuals on a daily basis. Most of us do not go around pointing our fingers at every Hispanic, pondering to ourselves, "He's probably an illegal!" - not to mention how uncomfortable it would be to actually ask another their citizenship status. Seriously, Navarrette, give me a break.
The columnist's assessment of the whole ordeal would hold some credence if one didn't have to be fearful of the potential political retaliation the left would gladly wield, especially against a prominent Republican like Romney. However, until political correctness and the threats of racism loosen its grasp on society, Navarrette's recommendation is totally inconceivable and ludicrous.
Information from - Opinion piece in The Star-Ledger, postwritersgroup.com
