Wednesday, June 05, 2002

Josh Marshall makes the point that today's announcement by Ashcroft was more of a whimper than a bang. Apparently the only thing new is that Syria is going to be added to the list of countries we already have special measures for immigrants.

Contrary to numerous straw men set up by the Right, most of us have no problems with an immigration policy which is already country-specific. I do have increasing problems with country-profiling the more it differentiates treatment of people legally within the border by country of origin -- particularly if such things are likely, even if explicitly not intended to, spill over into actual racial profiling (such as, local law enforcement asking for proof of citizenship/residency by brown-skinned people which they wouldn't otherwise ask for). But, requiring a finger print on a visa application is not an issue.