Wet foot, dry foot

I live in South Florida. I am amazed at the infantile political perspective that introduced (and persists) the wet-foot/dry-foot policy for Cuban immigrants to the United States. Essentially, this policy says that if you come from Cuba without papers and get to the United States - even with one foot still in the water - you are granted asylum.

Cubans come to this country not to escape Communism but to gain greater economic opportunities. Why are they different from Ethiopians, Bolivians, Mexicans, or Jamaicans who would like to come to the US for the same reasons? The intelligent answer: they're not. The political answer: Florida is a swing state and the Cuban vote is something you don't mess with.

Immigration Reform Analogy

Yes, immigrants are people too.

Yes, illegal immigrants are people too.

Analogy alert....

I have a grand house. I work my ass off to keep it clean, maintained... even beautiful.

You live in a crappy house. You can't even keep the lawn cut.

One day you decide... hey... that guy up the street has a grand house. It looks much more comfortable. Perhaps I can go live there. So you go there and break in. You find a nice comfortable place in the basement, and get free electricity, plumbing, etc., off of my - and my ancestor's - hard work.

In the meantime, I'm not exactly stingy with the room in my house. I have certain standards that I maintain for people who want to move in. Alas, going through the process takes time, and you're impatient. So you decided to cut in line.

Doesn't seem right.