When the DREAM Becomes a Nightmare
Jul. 21
By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Governor Chris Christie is as effective a speaker on the issues of taxes, entitlement reform and school choice as you’ll ever find, Save Jerseyans. Plain spoken but substantively on-point; the clarity with which he speaks makes apolitical Americans want to get up and follow him and good faith dissenters concede the logic of his argument.
The so-called “YouTube moments” concerning ^^ are what we remember and, at least until Sandy and Bridgegate, they’re what defined his brand. Just as often, however, Chris Christie talks like what he is by training: a lawyer. And I don’t mean that in a disparaging way (I am one!). All the same, it can get him into trouble.
Immigration comes to mind as a prominent example.
It all started back in 2008, before he was even governor, when U.S. Attorney Christie inartfully tried to explain the difference between criminal illegal entry into the United States and civil penalties associated with overstaying a visa’s lifespan. I went easy on him at the time, but it was a lot more difficult to rationalize his support for a New Jersey version of the DREAM Act signed into law at the end of 2013.
Impossible, in fact.
Conservatives including yours truly warned that “compassionate” legislation would lead to a “magnet state” effect, inducing more illegal immigration without reforming the system to ensure equity for all of the affected parties. In short, a result with anything but a compassionate outcome! Opponents predictably scoffed at the criticism by trotting out the same old lame and unsubstantiated allegations of xenophobia.
Today, I get to say “I told you so” and it gives me absolutely no pleasure…
– See more at: https://savejersey.com/2014/07/chris-christie-dream-act-iowa/#sthash.mb7IhPE3.dpuf
