An Indiana legislator wants to introduce a bill to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants. The Indianapolis Star weighs in with an editorial urging the General Assembly to be cautions:
Rather than rushing the legislation through a short session, lawmakers should charge a summer study committee with the task of measuring how similar laws are affecting other states. Various groups, including business interests and local police agencies that would have to enforce Delph's proposal, also would have the chance to help shape a solution.
There's nothing wrong with a "please study the options" editorial. I've written them myself when I didn't know what else to say, especially if I hadn't made up my own mind yet. But sometimes a piece will have readers screaming, "Yes, but what do you think"? This is one of them. "Undocumented" workers are breaking the law, as are the companies who hire them. Does the Star reaally mean to say that if it is shown that similar measures in other states have bad economic effects, then the Star will endorse breaking the law here? Unless the point is clarified, that certainly seems to be what the editorial is saying.
