Fair Metaphor Or Offensive? Senator Compares Illegal Immigrants To Oil Spill

Illegal immigration is bad and people who come into the country illegally are criminals. Alright, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we can discuss whether or not it’s fair to compare human beings (criminals though they may be) to a toxic sludge that is killing thousands of plants and animals, ruining entire ecosystems, and destroying the livelihoods and altogether way of life of tons of people? That’s what Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) did yesterday when discussing his proposed amendment to build a 700-mile fence along the US border.

While the amendment was eventually rejected,here is Sen. DeMint’s full argument:

“If any member of the Senate stood up today and said that we should not seal the oil leak in the Gulf until we have a comprehensive plan to clean it up, we would all say that that is absurd. Certainly we need to seal that leak as quickly as possible to minimize the cleanup later. But that is exactly the kind of logic that the President and my Democratic colleagues are using when it comes to immigration. They are insisting that we will not secure our borders until Republicans agree to a comprehensive plan with some form of amnesty and road to citizenship for those who have come here illegally.”

I can see the argument for and against this phrasing, so what do you all think? Below is video of the quote as well as a poll. As always, put your answers that are more colorful than a simple “yes” or “no” in the comments section.