Pull it back a little bit, please

One of the Republican congressional hopefuls in Iowa's 3d District goes just a wee bit too far with his plan to deal with the illegal immigration issue:

"Speaking at a Tama County Republican forum Monday, six candidates for the GOP nomination to face seven –term Democratic Rep. Leonard Boswell opposed amnesty for illegal aliens and called for tougher enforcement of border security.

"'I think we should catch ’em, we should document ’em, make sure we know where they are and where they are going,' said Pat Bertroche, an Urbandale physician. 'I actually support micro-chipping them. I can micro-chip my dog so I can find it. Why can’t I micro-chip an illegal?'"

You do realize you're not contributing anything particularly helpful, right, Mr. Bertroche?

Sorry, sir, but your so-called "solution" is patently ludicrous, if not downright frightening.  We're all for enforcing our border and forcing people who came here illegally to go back to their home countries and get in line behind the people who are doing things lawfully.  That being said, these individuals are still people, not pets or farm animals, and as such they deserve to be treated humanely and respectfully once they are identified and detained.  Forcing them to submit to what amounts to an invasive medical procedure just doesn't qualify.

As we pointed out earlier today, America has a far better track record than Mexico when it comes to our treatment of illegal aliens.  Let's keep it that way.