america's criminal immigration policy

The February edition of Reason magazine has a cover story that is going to be very relevant in the next few years. The story focuses on Buca, a Mexican H-2A laborer working on Christmas tree farms in North Carolina. There’s a preview of the cover story here, along with editor Nick Gillespie’s commentary:

My grandfather, despite coming here at a time when Southern Italians were considered subhuman, had one advantage Buca doesn t. He entered the Land of Opportunity before racist immigration restrictions were passed in the 1920s. While the rationale for U.S. policy has changed since then, there s no question that hard-working immigrants, whether legal or undocumented, face insuperable barriers. There is something immoral about a policy that treats Buca and his family so shabbily. It not only causes hardship; it dishonors all those workers who came before.

Immigration reform is shaping up as a key battle this legislative season. Let s make sure that President Bush and Congress know who grows their Christmas trees. And that they create a policy that welcomes all hard-working Americans, regardless of their country of origin.