Immigration

Pope Francis Addresses Congress

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PopeFrancis.2The big question preceding Pope Francis’ address to a joint session of Congress was whether anyone opposed to his views would be so disrespectful as to disrupt the Pontiff’s speech.

It appears that only Arizona’s Rep. Paul Gosar behaved badly, by boycotting the Popes’ speech.

Best headline of the day: Congress mostly behaved during the Pope’s speech. And of course, Boehner cried. So much so, it became distracting.

Vatican officials had asked lawmakers to remain seated and quiet during the address, but our Congress critters ignored them. The Pope was interrupted by applause and standing ovations as if this was a State of The Union Address. This may have given the appearance of partisanship at times. It was not the fault of  Pope Francis. Blame the usual suspects.

Here are some highlights from Pope Francis’ address to a joint session of Congress, the first ever by a Pope. Transcript: Pope Francis’s speech to Congress:

I am most grateful for your invitation to address this Joint Session of Congress in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

First interruption by a standing ovation. The Vatican’s protocols were immediately disregarded.

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Pope Francis at the White House

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pope_whitehouse_09There has been a great deal of speculation and conjecture in recent weeks by reporters and pundits about what Pope Francis would say when he was welcomed to the White House, and in his address to a joint session of Congress.

I prefer to wait to hear what “Papa Fancesca” actually had to say. A number of pundits were suggesting that Pope Francis would be political, but after listening to both speeches, anyone familiar with Catholic teachings knows that the Pope was being pastoral, teaching by homily from Catholic doctrines.

Pope Francis at the White House:

Mr. President, I am deeply grateful for your welcome in the name of all Americans. As the son of an immigrant family, I am happy to be a guest in this country, which was largely built by such families.

In his opening comments Pope Francis, the son of Italian immigrants in Argentina, reminds Americans that we are a nation of immigrants, the “great melting pot” of many people and many nationalities. E pluribus unum: out of many, one.

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Kate’s Law Sinking?

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When the obfuscation starts, the end is often near.

So, it appears to be with Kate’s Law, the paranoid piece of legislation that would have us spend 2 billion a year to lock up for 5 years all those who re-enter the country after being deported.

Yesterday, I posted The Mystifying Math of Kate’s Law, which really did little more than quote analysis from The Atlantic on the stupefying projected cost of implementing Kate’s Law.

That drew a sharp response from Paula Pennypacker, who contended that Kate’s Law only would apply to “aggravated felons.”

Well, not exactly, Paula.

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The Mystifying Math of Kate’s Law

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After seeing yet another Paula Pennypacker rant on Facebook today, it struck me that the math of Kate’s law, which would place all those who re-enter the U.S. after deportation behind bars for 5 years. must be absurd. One minute into my research, I found this in The Atlantic: The Trouble with Kate’s Law. First, the prison population increase:

In July, a group of legislators introduced the Establishing Mandatory Minimums for Illegal Reentry Act of 2015, popularly known as Kate’s Law. On Wednesday, the U.S. Sentencing Commission estimated that Kate’s Law would expand the federal prison population by over 57,000 prisoners, according to Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a nonprofit organization that supporters sentencing reform.

The cost:

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Trump’s rivals try to trump him on immigration

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Years ago there was a short-lived TV sitcom, the name of which I cannot recall now, that had a deputy sheriff character who was investigating a crime committed by a Canadian. His comical comment was “Those sneaky bastards! They look and sound just like us.” When you’re from Minnesota that line is hilarious, because it happens to be true.

Screenshot-4Governor Scott Walker, the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to run their Midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin, also sees something nefarious in Canadians who “look and sound just like us.”

Walker, seeking to one-up Donald Trump and his “big, beautiful wall” on the U.S.-Mexico border, said he is open to building a wall along the U.S.- Canada border as well. Scott Walker Open To Building Wall Along Border With Canada:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), a staunch advocate of beefing up security on the southern border, said Sunday he is open to building a wall on the U.S. border with Canada as well.

The Republican presidential candidate said the idea of building a northern wall was brought up to him during a recent town hall in New Hampshire.

“That is a legitimate issue for us to look at,” Walker said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The U.S.- Canada border, officially known as the International Boundary, is the longest international border in the world, some 5,525 miles long including another 1,538 miles shared with Alaska, including maritime boundaries in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic coasts, and the Great Lakes.

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