Today, Chicago lost out on its bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.  President Obama and his wife along with their entourage made a pitch for their hometown.  Not only did Chicago lose out.  In a race of four, Chicago came in fourth.  It lost out, to put it bluntly, in an Olympic sized fashion.

 Many reasons have been atttibuted to this, including the rather lukewarm local support in Chicago for the games.   However, an interesting argument has been set forth by the Immigration Policy Center (an admittedly pro-immigration reform outfit).  See a blog written on that subject here:

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_hispanicaffairs/2009/10/did-the-us-lose-the-olympics-because-of-its-immigration-policy.html

Skeptics may try to argue that our ridiculous immigration system had nothing to do with this failure.  Perhaps they would point out other reasons.  Be that as it may, it cannot be disputed that the question about the "harrowing experience" that is the U.S. immigration system came up during IOC deliberations.  Thereafter, the City, which was previously thought to be the leader for the 2016 Olympics, actually came in last place.  Quite a turnabout of fortunes. 

Coincidence?  I think not.  Chicago, and the personal appearance of the President of the United States, didn't even have enough clout to earn a bronze medal.  The arbitrary and unfair nature of our immigration system is not, apparently, something that only we in America know.  The harsh anti-immigrant sentiment being spewed angrily from the hilltops is not only heard by those of us in America. Our attitudes, or the xenophobic stances of the Lou Dobbs and Glenn Becks of our country, regarding foreigners cannot be ignored.  Does the world think that we hate them? If they look at our immigration law, and they look at Lou Dobbs, then they certainly have a basis to think so.

How many more failures on the world stage must we have before our leaders wake up and do something about it?  More importantly, how does our current immigration system help us?