Below The Beltway

From today’s Washington Post:
Hundreds of foreign-born families have pulled their children from Prince William County public schools and enrolled them in nearby Fairfax County, Arlington County and Alexandria since the start of the school year, imposing a new financial burden on those inner suburbs in a time of lean budgets.
(…)
“The resolution is clearly working,” said [...]

Kudos to Pope Benedict XVI for speaking up for immigrants and ignoring the nativism that’s becoming more popular in the United States:
Even as he was flying to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of protecting immigrant families, not dividing them.
He raised the issue again in a meeting on Wednesday with President Bush, and later [...]

The winner by far, Congressman Tom Tancredo for dissing the Pope:
Rep. Tom Tancredo blasted the pro-immigrant message of visiting Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday, accusing the pontiff of using “faith-based marketing” to boost foreign-born attendance at parishes in the United States.
“I suspect the pope’s immigration comments may have less to do with spreading the [...]

One blogger seems to think there is a lesson to be learned:
Japan is doomed. It’s partly a problem that other developed countries are facing, but partly a consequence of decades of inflexibility, racism and formality.
The agent of Japan’s death is simple: depopulation.
The fertility rate in Japan is 1.29. That is 1.29 children per woman, whereas [...]

The latest video from Drew Carey over at Reason.tv finally puts the immigration issue into the perspective it belongs — human freedom
“I think we should welcome all peaceful people to our country,” says Drew Carey. “They get to the pursue the ‘American Dream’ and we get to benefit from all the wonderful things that immigrants [...]

Despite the vocal movement behind it, most illegal immigration proposals put before the Virginia General Assembly and Senate during this year’s session have failed:
RICHMOND, March 14 — A divided Virginia General Assembly killed most proposals to crack down on illegal immigration during its annual session, despite legislators’ repeated pledges to address the growing population in [...]

It’s not exactly what you might think.

A Republican State Senator has introduced a bill that would permit employers to fire someone who cannot speak English without being liable for unemployment benefits:
RICHMOND, Jan. 16 — A Republican state senator from Fairfax County has introduced a proposal that would allow a boss to fire employees who don’t speak English in the workplace, which [...]

Frankly, I don’t like this ad at all.

And the topic is immigration.

Personally, I find it distressing that nativism has taken hold of the Republican Party to such a significant degree.
H/T: Marc Ambinder