Illegal immigrants=convenient scapegoats

There was a "Simpsons" episode a few years back when the citizens of Springfield initiate a totally unnecessary "bear patrol" and then are enraged by the "bear tax", so the cowardly mayor decides to blame everything on illegal immigrants. Well, today our "bear patrol" is an unnecessary war in Iraq that's costing hundreds of billions of dollars with no end in sight, but our government is too craven to even raise taxes, and in fact has handed out TRILLIONS of dollars in tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, and as a result our infrastructure is falling apart (sometimes literally). So who we gonna blame--that's right, illegal immigrants!

I am NOT saying that illegal immigration is not a problem--it's certainly a security issue at least. But, for the most part, illegal immigrants are scapegoats--99.9 percent of the problems in America are caused by legal Americans. But if you're a politician or right-wing rabble rouser why try to solve any problem when you can just blame it all on a convenient scapegoat. Let's get mad at the illegal Mexican who's scrubbing toilets for $1.50 an hour and not ask why the CEO who earns $100 million a year really needs another tax cut when a lot of other people's wages never seem to rise at all.

Are illegal immigrants bankrupting social security? Are they the reason we are the only developed country without universal healthcare? Are they the reason bridges are collapsing or levees in New Orleans won't hold? Open your eyes.