Patrick McIlheran, who often mistakes dim bulbs for supernovas of intelligence (sorry for the Mackesque worldplay), rushes to the aid of the guy who runs the Detox Bar and Grill in Arcadia, ie, John Kimmel, who also is mayor of said town.
Mack says Kimmel is one of a growing number of mayors who is getting an undeserved bum rap for puportedly taking a hard line against illegal immigrants, ie, Mexicans.
The latest example of this is in western Wisconsin, where Arcadia Mayor John Kimmel has proposed fining landlords who rent to illegal immigrants or employers who give them jobs, among other things.
He prompted an uproar, just as there were uproars in Pennsylvania, Texas and elsewhere when mayors and councils, suspecting the feds aren't going to do anything about illegal immigrants, did something themselves.
Kimmel's no longer commenting. You can't blame him, in that his newspaper essay carefully saying he favors legal immigration didn't spare him grief.
Which is a pity. In writing that "the whole concept of a melting pot is to melt," Kimmel says nothing more inflammatory than what is believed by at least half the country. Yet plainly from last spring's marches, there's a view afoot that assimilation is oppression and even saying "illegal" should be illicit. Half the nation's leadership now says the uninvited undocumented are unremovable. That's what makes mayors say, "Oh, yeah?"
Poor Kimmel. But what are those "other things"?
Oh yeah:
In a letter in the local newspaper this month, John Kimmel, who runs the Detox Bar and Grill, said he would create an "illegal alien task force" to forward complaints to federal authorities, hold property owners accountable for renting to or allowing someone to live in the city illegally, make English the official language of Arcadia and regulate the flying of foreign flags.
Strange how those last two provisions seem to discriminate against people based against their national origin vs. their legal status.
Strange how Mack omits those last two points when he tries to claim Kimmel is not a racist, or at a minimum a demagogue who caters to the worst in his voters.
Not surprisingly, a letter writer to the JS offers a sharper take on the problem with Mr. Kimmel:
Mayor could stand to learn a few things
While all of Arcadia Mayor John Kimmel's anti-immigrant proposals seem to be steeped in 19th-century xenophobia, most troubling is his plan to "regulate the flying of foreign flags."
If Kimmel truly is unaware of our guaranteed right to free speech and expression, there's an easy solution. He can enroll in citizenship classes, along with some of the "foreigners" who worry him, and learn something about the U.S. Constitution - and maybe a little bit about ethnic diversity at the same time.
Peter Wein
Wauwatosa
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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Posted by: K.P. at Aug 29, 2006 9:09:11 PM
Posted by: K.P. | August 29, 2006 at 09:11 PM