Republicans not interested in border solution

During my 25-plus years as a Herald subscriber and a now transplanted and proud St. Charles resident living in Florida (awesome weather and hideous politics), I’ve read my share of howlers in the letters to the editor but Tonia Khouri’s Feb 12 “both sides” screed trashing Joe Biden for failures at the border takes the cake.

I’d like to relieve her of the delusion that Democrats and Republicans unite in opposition to Biden’s failures. Democrats know full well who owns failure to pass the extremely conservative-friendly bipartisan deal the Senate negotiated. This failure rests squarely on the shoulders of Republicans in both houses who are more interested in bending the knee to please their overlord from Florida..

This is far from the only time Republicans have tanked immigration reform. The GOP balked at the bipartisan deal negotiated and championed by George W. Bush and a similar deal years later during Barack Obama’s term.

Republicans have zero interest in a border security solution. They resist it for two reasons: it would involve difficult compromise and hard choices. And it would rob them of what they really want - a problem to rail about. They don’t want solutions because they’d have to defend them to their voters and they’d lose the club they so willingly use to beat Biden or Obama or any other Democrat they want to label as “soft” on the border.

Acknowledge how dependent our economy is on illegal labor (and all citizens’ tacit complicity in this)? No, no, we can’t do that. Instead, we have GOPers whipping up anti-immigrant sentiment as they trundle down the border for their obligatory screeds on Fox News.

If Ms. Khouri can acknowledge that, perhaps I can take her missive seriously. Otherwise, don’t insult my intelligence.

Keith Worthington

Odessa, Florida