A front-page Times account of the extortion of immigrants by those in the "ruthless," "ugly business of human smuggling" features some vivid and valuable reporting but runs astray in an ideological lecture:
Behind the surge of young migrants showing up for a shot at the American dream is a system of cruel and unregulated capitalism with a proven ability to adapt. The human export industry in the region is now worth billions of dollars, experts say, and it has become more ruthless and sophisticated than ever, employing a growing array of opportunists who trap, rape and rob from the point of departure to the end of the road.
The Times sees the problem with this smuggling arising from the fact that it is "unregulated capitalism." I see it the opposite way — it is an excess of government regulation that caused the problem. Without the government-imposed limits on legal immigration, these smugglers would be out of business.