Been reading a lot lately from Daily Kos folks who support a major increase in the use of immigration detention and a "get tough" policy on "illegals". People of good conscience can differ on the level of immigration that we can accept or support, on immigration enforcement policy, and on policies to penalize those who hire undocumented persons. The immigration laws are not effectively enforced, and the system is broken. I would argue that the combination of draconian laws and arbitrary, inefficient enforcement is creating a vicious cycle in which people clamor for ever harsher penalties and treatment, while never addressing the underlying need to regulate immigration competently, in keeping with our values.
For my first diary on immigration, let's take a look at the rhetoric about "getting tough" on illegals and examine a case in which the immigration service took this idea too literally.