Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

April 05, 2006

Principal Joins Student Walkout and Other Nonsense

Anything can be a learning experience. Just ask Texas' Lanier High School principal Richard Solis, who decided to join about 200 students in a walkout in protest about immigration reform.

"I don't condone it, and I'll have to correct it, but the best thing we can do is make it a teaching experience," Solis said told News Radio 1200 WOAI.

Solis said he wanted to make sure the students weren't injured and didn't get into trouble in the march.

How will his marching with them make it a teaching experience? I think it just shows them that the principal is with them in spirit.

Many of those students say their parents and family members are illegal aliens. So if their parents are forced to return to Mexico, they may have to as well.

“They told me... my sisters, my brothers.. they told us all... just walk out of school,� said the student. “All the Mexicans in this school, we'd all have to see our grandparents go back. And that's just wrong.�

What's wrong is that your family is here illegally. This entitlement mentality, especially from people who aren't even supposed to be here, is extremely galling. It's unfortunate that so many people don't seem to grasp the concept that non-citizens aren't entitled to live or work here unless they hold a green card, which they have to apply for.

Many of the students said they were unclear about the political issues involved, and were going with their friends or simply taking an opportunity to get out of class and take a walk on a nice day.

"Some of them may have just been copy cats and nothing else," explained Solis.

Some teaching experience. My faith in the public school system grows by leaps and bounds.

Immigration rights leaders unveiled the next major initiative of their movement. It's called "The Great American Boycott of 2006" and is scheduled for May 1st. Organizers are calling for those concerned about immigration rights to boycott work, school and all consumer activities on that day.

Fine, go ahead. I have a feeling this will be about as successful as the boycott of consumer meccas in order to protest our presence in Iraq.

And really: a "Great American Boycott" by non-Americans who are here illegally? Those illegals who decide not to go to work that day are only going to hurt themselves in the end, as they depend on their daily under-the-table wad o' cash.

Some are arguing that illegal immigrants are essential to our economy. Rich Lowry feels differently.

But it doesn't make intuitive sense that importing the poor of Latin America would benefit us. If low-skill workers were key to economic growth, Mexico would be an economic powerhouse, and impoverished Americans would be slipping south over the Rio Grande.

[...]

Steve Camarota of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies estimates that illegal immigrants cost the federal government $10 billion a year. State and local governments lose even more. Illegals pay some taxes, but not enough to cover governmental expenses like Medicaid and treatment for the uninsured.

According to Camarota, if illegal immigrants were legalized, their net annual cost to the federal government would only increase, tripling to $30 billion a year. Immigrant workers don't earn enough to pay much in taxes, while they qualify for all sorts of governmental assistance. As they become legal, they will get even more assistance - the benefits that they get from the Earned Income Tax Credit, for instance, would increase by a factor of 10.

Think Principal Solis will present the above information to his students?