Members of the Coalition on Illegal Immigration agreed that illegal immigration is a big problem, but they didn’t agree on much else.
The group, represented by a dozen or more municipalities, assembled in Culpeper yesterday to explore issues, exchange information and possibly press for legislation. But they even quibbled over the proper term for calling illegal immigrants. Reports Donnie Johnson with the Free Lance-Star:
“Illegal alien is the proper term,” said Herndon Town Councilman Dave Kirby. “There’s no such thing as an illegal immigrant according to the IRS because all immigrants are eventually issued a green card. An alien enters this country illegally and is deportable.”
The lack of easy consensus is probably a good thing: We don’t want any lynch mobs forming. There are no simple solutions for illegal immigrants/aliens. Indeed, some purported remedies might be worse than the problem. The general tenor of the gathering seemed temperate and responsible, according to accounts in the Free Lance-Star and Times-Dispatch. The coalition may have something positive to contribute to the illegal immigration/alien debate.