In the (fenced-off) New York Times today, Thomas Friedman has a column on immigration in which he calls for a “a very high fence, with a very big gate.” As it turns out, he doesn’t mean a real fence, but instead a national ID card, which he suggests will serve some of the same functions. He also says amnesty for illegal immigrants who are already here is “hardly ideal,” because “it would reward illegal behavior,” but it turns out he believes, as a practical matter, there will have to be some sort of semi-amnesty for illegals who have been in the U.S. the longest.
Maybe he’s right, but in the past, Friedman has wanted to send a much tougher message to those who would come to this country and ignore its laws. On April 25, 2000, in a column entitled “Reno for President,” Friedman rejoiced at the photograph of armed federal agents breaking into a Miami home to seize young Elian Gonzalez. The photo of SWAT-teamed marshals and a terrified boy sent just the right message, Friedman wrote:
Yup, I gotta confess, that now-famous picture of a U.S. marshal in Miami pointing an automatic weapon toward Donato Dalrymple and ordering him in the name of the U.S. government to turn over Elian Gonzalez warmed my heart. They should put that picture up in every visa line in every U.S. consulate around the world, with a caption that reads: “America is a country where the rule of law rules. This picture illustrates what happens to those who defy the rule of law and how far our government and people will go to preserve it. Come all ye who understand that.”