Nothing like a Republican primary to bring out the creative spirit in candidates. Pat Bertroche, a psychiatrist who is running in a Congressional primary in Iowa, was inspired to propose a catch-and-release policy for illegal immigrants.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette tells all:

“I think we should catch ‘em, we should document ‘em, make sure we know where they are and where they are going,” said Pat Bertroche, an Urbandale physician. “I actually support microchipping them. I can microchip my dog so I can find it. Why can’t I microchip an illegal?

But Bertroche’s creative spirit had not yet waned. He went on:

That’s not a popular thing to say, but it’s a lot cheaper than building a fence they can tunnel under.

Aha! So what Bertroche has in mind is “microchipping them” before they tunnel under the fence and get here? Unfortunately, he didn’t say which countries we should invade in order to microchip their citizens.

Actually, to be fair to him, he may not envision invasion at all. Maybe he just wants us to drop Special Forces troops in unspecified foreign countries, to discreetly engage one-on-one with anyone who looks like a potential illegal immigrant, and microchip them without anyone even realizing he’s been microchipped. A chain of massage parlors might be a useful front. As also houses of prostitution.