Posted on January 17, 2006

A Major Victory Against Illegal Immigration — in Massachusetts?

Mac Johnson, Human Events, Jan 16, 2006

{snip}

Several months ago, the facilitators and proponents of uncontrolled illegal immigration began a campaign in Massachusetts to make immigration criminals eligible for the in-state tuition rate when attending public colleges in the Commonwealth.

According to Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, this would amount to a taxpayer-funded loss of nearly $9,000 per illegal alien student at the university level.

{snip}

But despite the bill being a ridiculous piece of pandering and an assault on the rule of law, it was sure to pass. Nine other states have passed such laws already, and this is Massachusetts we’re talking about, after all. In addition to being perhaps the most liberal state in America, Massachusetts is occupied by a surprisingly large number of illegal aliens, who are every bit as vocal as their handlers have trained them to be.

And then there is the Massachusetts legislature to consider. Of the 160 state representatives, a whopping 20 are Republicans. Yup. You read that correctly. If you think a two-party system is frustrating, you should try dealing with a one party system. And just as one might expect of a system in which few representatives will ever face a viable challenger, the legislature of Massachusetts is not very responsive to the concerns of its voters.

So the only question was whether the bill would pass by a large enough margin to override a promised veto from Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, who functions as a sort of living insurance policy to keep the 87% Democrat legislature from entirely seceding from the United States and joining Communist Cuba.

For those opposed to the bill, the weeks before the vote were thus a little like the last moments before a car crash: you’ve obviously lost control of the car and now you just have to watch in slow motion to see exactly how hard you’re going to hit the tree.

But then it happened. A small revolt began. In the crackling electromagnetic hinterlands of talk radio (conservative even in Massachusetts), people began to gather and passions began to rise. Numerous talk-show hosts, foremost among which was Howie Carr of WRKO in Boston, took up the cause in disgust and sparked a surprisingly intense grassroots wildfire.

Apparently, people are sick of the games and the giveaways and the corruption and the pandering associated with illegal immigration.

{snip}

When the final vote came, the bill (H 1230) did not pass by a veto-proof supermajority. It did not pass at all. It was defeated by a crushing 96 to 57 vote. The bill, which had been so assured of passage that it had 54 co-sponsors confidently attach their names to it before the revolt began, could not find more than three additional “yea” votes after the revolt was heard.