America is not the only country in the world with a broken immigration system. As the Mrs. Gillian Duffy snafu suggests, Brits too are wrestling with immigration. In today’s New York Times there is a comparative assessment of some party’s immigration proposals. The far-right British National Party has an interesting stance: pay people from “alien cultures” $75,000 to accept voluntary repatriation. Of course, a similar provision here could lure more Mexicans (Hondurans, etc.) to pass illegally into the US. I doubt US policymakers will consider such a step, but if similarly fresh proposals could at least make their way into the debate then we might be able to engage an issue that everyone realizes needs to be addressed without resorting to the same old rhetoric.
