Menendez, Melgen, And Immigration—Dr. Melgen Is An Immigrant Himself

Robert Menendez, a Cuban-American Democratic Senator from New Jersey, is involved in a sex-and-corruption scandal with Dr. Salomon Melgen and some possibly underage hookers in the Dominican Republic. (For the record, the age of consent in the Dominican Republic [1] is 18...and 16 in New Jersey [2].)

Michelle Malkin has covered some aspects of it in two columns: Ladies Against Senator Sleaze-Bob—Robert Menendez’s Caribbean Sex Trips Expose Dem Hypocrisy [3] and The Company Sen. Sleaze-Bob Menendez Keeps [4].

Robert Stacy McCain has pointed [5]to a certain lack of interest by the Democratic-controlled Mainstream Media: If You Don’t Think ‘Jailbait Hookers’ Is Headline News, You Don’t Know News [6]

Now the Daily Caller's Mickey Kaus tweets an actual corruption story from an MSM source:

Beloved Dr. Melgen looking less beloved in this story washingtonpost.com/politics/sen-m… [7]

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) February 7, 2013 [8]

So at what point is it appropriate to point out that Dr. Melgen is actually an immigrant himself? Only this story in the Miami Herald described him as an immigrant:

By most appearances, Dr. Salomon Melgen embodies the great American immigrant success story: A native of the Dominican Republic, Melgen has earned renown as one of South Florida’s leading eye surgeons. He owns a sprawling, waterfront home in North Palm Beach valued at about $3 million. He gives generously to charities and rubs elbows with prominent politicians.[Complex portrait of doctor linked to Menendez probe, [9] January 31, 2013]

Other stories [10], in a previously noted [11]euphemism,  say  "Melgen is a native of the Dominican Republic but has lived in the U.S. since 1980." [12]

I. E. he's one of those skilled immigrants we hear so much about. The Melgen Eye Center [13] has produced many benefits for Americans who can now see better. It must have produced a lot of benefits for Americans, or Salomon Melgen would never have been able to spend $700, 000 in donations to a Senator from another state, and he wouldn't have been accused of overbilling Medicare for $8.9 million dollars.

But even if he's not going to be on welfare like other immigrants from the Dominican Republic, [14] he's not actually going to constitute a net benefit for America