Prison Economics of Immigration

Illegal immigration is a complex issue, with myriad points of view to consider, as are drug use and other non-violent crimes. Corporate profit is not a publicly discussed aspect of that discussion. However, per the following story, a few politically well-connected are behind Arizona’s aggressive immigration law, recasting corporate profit in patriotic and political terms. This is blatant rent-seeking that plays peoples’ lives as pawns for politically granted and protected gain.

Prison Economics Help Drive Arizona Immigration Law
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130833741

A life sentence prisoner recently commented that the Arizona law evokes the activities of the politically connected merchants described in Revelation 18:13:

11 The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more– 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men (NIV; NASB: “and slaves and human lives”).

I was astonished at his statement; it accurately and chillingly describes current practice.