I mused in a post yesterday that there would be no logical contradiction in
being hostile to illegal immigration while favoring higher levels of legal
immigration. However (I said) human nature being what it is, this was
probably a pretty rare combination of opinions.
Not at all. I have had several e-mails from people who hold exactly those
positions, and can justify them very cogently. Says one of them (an
immigrant himself, like so many who are steamed about this, for reasons I
have already explained): “I defend my immigration position — fewer
illegals, a lot more legals — on the grounds that it is in the U.S.’
interest to attract as many talented and driven people, as much as these
people deserve the chance to come here, adapt and integrate.”
Now here’s a question for John Podhoretz or any of the other
anti-”anti-immigrant” folk: Is a person of this cast of mind — a person,
that is, who favors zero tolerance on illegal immigration but much more
legal immigration — “anti-immigrant”?