Porous borders

Man arrested for smuggling 500 parrots in a car

ALMATY, Jan 23 (Reuters Life!) - Kazakh border guards arrested a man trying to smuggle 500 parrots in his car from neighbouring Uzbekistan, media reported on Tuesday.

"Border guards discovered a live cargo of 500 parrots in his car," Kazakhstan Today news agency quoted a KNB security service official as saying.

It was unclear how the parrots fit into the Kazakh man's Audi. Trade in wild parrots is banned around the world, according to the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070123/od_nm/kazakhstan_parrots_dc_1

Pres. Bush, in his State of the Union speech, drew attention to this international incident as just another example of what happens when a country lacks a comprehensive immigration policy.

As he explained, Kazakhstan needs to put in place a guest parrot program, along with a path to avian citizenship.

Marvin Olasky, of World Magazine, also cited this event as a paradigm example of the need to apply the principles of compassionate conservatism to the plight of undocumented parrots.