The Nation : Warning on Immigration

The Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, president of Notre Dame University and former chairman of a presidential commission on immigration, called the tide of illegal entries into the United States a “living scandal” and warned that failure to enact sweeping changes in immigration laws will lead to military control of the U.S.-Mexico border and wholesale deportations of Latinos. Testifying before a Senate subcommittee considering legislation to revamp immigration rules, Hesburgh argued that the only effective way to check the flood of undocumented aliens is to slap stiff penalties on employers who knowingly hire them. Hesburgh’s views were opposed by Latino groups as well as the American Civil Liberties Union, which charged that sanctions would aggravate job discrimination.