DON'T ASK, SO WE HAVE NOTHING TO TELL

Lots of people bang on the Bush administration for the persistent laxity of immigration law enforcement, and justifiably so. But major cities and jurisdictions across the country (several in Maryland, undoubtedly), have set up their services so that they won't find out if recipients are in the country illegally, no matter what the federal government does. They're called sanctuary cities, and New York city is the largest one in the country. The city where citizens can't smoke without running afoul of Nanny Bloomberg offers your tax dollars to people who have broken the law to get there. And Nanny Bloomberg seems to be doing everything he can to keep it that way.

Prior to 9-11, our immigration policy and the sanctuary cities were an effect of irresponsible political race mongering. Now, they're no less than criminal negligence that may get people killed. Most of the 9-11 hijackers were in the country illegally, probably living in areas where they knew enforcement was most lax. We haven't learned our lesson yet.