Ford F-150 Raptor To Solve Illegal Immigration?
It’s been a while since Ford had a halo car. The GT got the sighs of admiration but was more of a monument to Ford’s past than to its present. If nothing else, the F-150 Raptor gives Ford trucks a Baja 1000-competitive glow ( 3rd place in Class 8, “race prepped”). Besides, it actually attracts paying customers. Like . . . the government! “Multiple sources reveal” to pickuptrucks.com that the US Border Patrol is considering the purchase of “at least 10” of the $38K base trucks. The one catch is that Border Patrol wants “work truck” interiors instead of Ford’s standard “class leading” finery. Can’t you see Howie Long rolling his eyes about that one? But hey, Ram and Silverado are both built in Mexico (among other places), so at least the Raptor is the least irony-charged full-sized border guard truck. Still, is “the immigration issue” as easily solved as a factory offroad special?
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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It seems to me the best way to deal with illegal immigration is to send back the illegal immigrants we already know about. If an illegal immigrant commits a crime he should be turned over to his country's legal system for prosecution, not left clogging ours. California and other states have even talked about offering driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, which seems to me like they already know where they are, so why not round them up and send them back to wherever they are from? If they want to immigrate legally or seek political asylum, give them the paperwork to do so, but let them do it from their side of the border they way they should have the first time.
With regard to the illegal immigration issue, the only way to stop it is to actively persue and heavily punish the small businesses that hire them. A constitutional amendment that made citizenship more than just a game of being born in the US would also help, but that's not going to happen. However, this whole pickup truck thing is pretty funny since, as noted in the post, some GM and Dodge pickups are made in Mexico, and since, because of culture and profession, undocumented aliens are probably one of the biggest buyers of pickups in the US.
"Work truck" interiors? Leather is durable and easy to clean, so it is often the choice of contractors and consultants in the fields I've worked. Wouldn't it be more expensive to customize a truck with lower quality materials than to take the mass-produced option anyway?