In their efforts to distract voters from from their record of corruption and incompetence, the Republican Party has adopted the strategy of waging war against undocumented immigrants. Voters should beware. The destruction that the Bush administration’s politically-guided management has left in Iraq and New Orleans alone should be ample proof that politics, or at least Republican politics, makes bad policy. Real people’s lives, the lives of our brothers and sisters, our friends and neighbors, will be affected by the decisions made regarding immigration policy. We should reject any attempt to make changes in policy a tool for political gain, whether by Republicans or Democrats.

The New York Times ran a story on November 17th that highlights the effect that the Bush administration’s stepped-up enforcement is having on the children of undocumented parents, many of whom are U.S. citizens and are being forced to choose between remaining in their own country or being with their parents when the parents are deported. An estimated 3 million children with undocumented parents are U.S. citizens. More and more of them will be affected by parental deportation as the Republican war on immigrants heats up prior to the 2008 election.

It is my hope that citizens of the 6th Congressional district will reject Peter Roskam’s anti-family immigration policies and reject any Democrat who embraces them.

Kudos to John Laesch, who is running for Denny Hastert’s seat in IL-14 and is standing up to Jim Oberweis on his anti-immigrant campaign. It’s a shame about Jim Oberweis. I’ve always wanted to try his ice cream but he keeps running for stuff on the same hateful platform and I can’t bring myself to do it. Hope IL-06 Dems will follow John’s lead.