When the first bud sprouted that made light of illegal immigration a few decades ago, it was hard to be alarmed because such sentiments strayed so far from basic common sense. "The law is the law," we thought. Simple.
Democrats thought so, too:
Chuck Schumer: "Illegal immigration is wrong; plain and simple." (2009)
Hillary Clinton: "... I am adamantly against illegal immigration." (2003)
Harry Reid: "If making it easy to be an illegal alien is not enough, how about offering a reward for being an illegal immigrant? No sane country would do that, right? Guess again. If you break our laws by entering this country without permission and give birth to a child, we reward that child with U.S. citizenship ..." (1993)
Dianne Feinstein: "Mexico must do its share because the day when America could be the welfare system for Mexico is gone. We simply can't afford it." (1993)
Bill Clinton: "... we will try to do more to speed the deportation of illegal aliens who are arrested for crimes, to better identify illegal aliens in the workplace... We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws." (1995)
Back then, illegal meant illegal.
Comment: The topic of poison is often in the headlines these days: