Apologize to Criminals?

Hard to watch a president do that. (Biden apologized for having referred to the man accused of murdering Laken Riley as an illegal alien. José Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national, is innocent until proven guilty — of murder — but not of being here illegally. The vocabulary we’re fighting over is indeed awkward though. Can a person be illegal? Even a convicted murderer is not himself illegal, is he? Maybe we need to move toward something like “criminal fugitive.” In any case, we’ve heard some attractive campaign rhetoric promising mass deportations. I think we have to hold all our candidates’ feet to the fire on that. Everyone illegally moved or having moved into the United States during the last four years should be removed, including by force. It’s not an easy ask, but it is the right thing to do. Meanwhile, we need to streamline, speed and increase legal migration, and do so on the basis of merit, national need, and indicated desire to be an American.  Also a wall. A big, beautiful wall would help a lot. Make progressives pay for it.