The central philosophical essence of modern conservatism is: "eff you, I got mine." Here's Lou Barletta (R-PA), talking about immigration, and illustrating this nicely:

“I hope politics is not at the root of why we’re rushing to pass a bill. Anyone who believes that they’re going to win over the Latino vote is grossly mistaken,” Barletta said. “The majority that are here illegally are low-skilled or may not even have a high school diploma. The Republican Party is not going to compete over who can give more social programs out. They will become Democrats because of the social programs they’ll depend on.”

As someone of Italian heritage myself, I find this "we only should accept skilled, educated immigrants" coming from another Italian American hilarious. The fact is, the vast majority of the millions of Italians who immigrated to the US from the late-nineteenth century through the 1920s didn't have the equivalent of a high school diploma. (My own grandmother never achieved higher than a 3rd grade education, and I believe she had more education than my grandfather.) Many Italians were illiterate. Many were unskilled peasants or low-skilled laborers. And if the United States had barred "low-skilled" non-high school graduates when Italians were pouring wave after wave into Ellis Island, it's likely that neither Barletta, Antonin Scalia or Rick Santorum would call themselves Americans today.

But apparently, none of this bothers Barletta in the least.

Hey, eff you, Mexicans. He got his.