The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Immigration

It’s extremely difficult to accurately estimate the number of people that cross into the United States each year from our southern neighbor. Most estimates are based on apprehension numbers from the border patrol. Clearly, it’s hard to extrapolate from those unlucky enough to have been caught and sent back over la frontera. The solution, it turns out, may be as simple as picking through the garbage. [Nature]

British Prime Minister David Cameron again makes controversial statements regarding immigrants in Great Britain. Apparently, immigrants in the UK have created a “kind of discomfort and disjointedness” in British communities. Whatever your political feelings about immigration are, only a British PM would classify animosity towards immigrants as “discomfort”—that’s what happens when you let your knickers down! [The Guardian] 

In case you missed it, France formally banned on Monday the wearing of full veils (niqabs) in public. Although very few Muslim women actually wear full veils (erroneously called burqas by the French) in France, the French government under President Sarkozy (L’Americain) has determined that they are a threat to public safety. A safety issue? Caving to anti-immigrant extremists? Anti-Islam politics at its most cynical? Or a necessary safeguard against the loss of French identity? What do you think? [New York Times] 

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