Those Enlightened Europeans!

Before you start thinking the Europeans are all enlightened, read these articles from yesterday's and today's New York Times, and you'll realize just how xenophobic the continent can be. The EU's European Parliament, which is basically set up to manage issues such as trade policy, immigration, and capital flows in and out of the EU, as well as other union-wide policy issues, has decided that it's OK to detain illegal immigrants for up to 18 months. I mean the economic BENEFITS of immigration aside, this is extreme. Many immigrants to European countries never get the right to vote or be citizens, and simply want to earn some small amount of money to send back home. Don't let Lou Dobbs see this story! He'll think it's a new great idea for making use of Gitmo!