House Bill 1383, which would limit aid to illegal immigrants, is going to get a lot of grief from the "let's just accept that these undocumented workers are here and help them adjust" crowd. Advance Indiana, for example, goes so far as to equate the effort to "the KKK of the 1920s. Back then the targets were Catholics, Eastern Europeans, Jews and blacks. Today, the target is Indiana's growing Hispanic population."
Now, it's fine to argue that we should reconsider our immigration policies. It's OK to say we should give those who are here some benefits -- refusing medical care, for example, goes against humanitarian principles. It's valid to wonder whether children should be punished for the actions of their parents with the denial of education. It's even a good debate to posit that some things we do for illegal immigrants are really for us (granting drivers' licenses as a way to keep bad drivers off the road, for example), although I would generally take the negative in that debate.
But it's absurd to compare the resistance to the flood at our border with Mexico to bigoted efforts against blacks or Catholics, completely blurring the distinction between legal and illegal immigrants. If our policies are bad, let's change them; I don't know that President Bush's guest-worker concept is the right one, but it's worth talking about. But in the meantime, enforce the law as it is. Illegal is illegal, whether we're talking about bank robbery or immigration.
Comments
I will agree that there are many aspects of the illegal immigration problem that probably deserve some debate. It's a little difficult for me to stay neutral living in central Texas. After all, all the problems associated with the issue are in the LOCAL news down here almost every week. However, one thing in particular really worries me and I can't see how it's being left undiscussed, unseen, or otherwise unmentioned. If that many people simple looking for the good life can drift across our southern border so easily, don't you think other not-so-friendly types can just as easily walk across ? With God knows what in their pockets. Or perhaps they already have ? Or do we think that our intelligence is really THAT good, ...
Bingo. If you lived in a high-crime neighborhood -- or anywhere these days, for that matter -- and refused to lock your doors at night, would it be reasonable for you to be shocked and outraged if someone walked in and robbed you blind, or, worse, killed someone? A nation that won't take its borders seriously has no legitimate complaint if that laxity is taken advantage of.
Either run them out of Indiana or they will swamp you. Like they have my town Fallbrook,Ca. Hospitals are closing,emergency rooms are closing, Schools overcrowded where diseases are becoming very common. Beware or pay the price that Texas,Arizona and California are playing.
Most of me desperately wants to seal the southern border. Part of me (the libertarian side of me) would like to see continued high levels of immigration into the American Southwest, so that the Mexican reconquista (the goal of Mexican government policy) is accomplished, and we're left with a smaller, more manageable America, perhaps one broken up farther still along regional lines.
It's becoming increasingly likely that the reconquista will be accomplished.
To Barry: If you really want the Mexican Reconquista (meaning the "reconquest") to happen, let me know the next time you're in Texas, ...
We could make a start by referring to these people accurately -- as "illegal aliens."
One of the problems is that they couldn't be coming at a worse time, given the uncontrolled wave of layoffs and outsourcing around the nation.
Larry, read my post again, please. As I said, I--mostly--desperately WANT to seal the border, I want to nip the reconquista in the bud. I guess I don't have much faith in the political system anymore that it will do what is necessary to avert the reconquista, so I'm trying to make the best of it.
Look at this paper's recent series, for instance, on how immigrants are shaping Fort Wayne, or some such nonsense. Do I think that the N-S will take a look at the dark side of immigration? No. Why? Oh, because one, that would require real reporting and 2, it wouldn't be "nice."
We could solve the immigration problem relatively easily. (See below an article from vdare.com by Ed Rubinstein, president of ESR Research Economic Consultants in Indianapolis.) But we lack the political will. We lack the will to say: we are an English-speaking nation with laws based on English common law, and we wish to remain this way, therefore, large numbers of Hispanic or non-Western European immigrants are incompatible with our polity. No, instead, we pretend that Guatemalans are the same as Englishmen, all the while our once lovely country transforms into Brazil.
By Ed Rubinstein from vdare.com
"No-one
I don't mind immigrants from anywhere, so long as they follow the rules to obtain citizenship, recognize they must speak our language (not we theirs), and become a productive member of our (blended) society. I wish we could seal our borders somehow, but only because of a security concern for people wishing to do us harm. The biggest bone I have to pick with our immigration issue in this country is that we have lost sight of the fact that there are laws that are being broken or otherwise ignored here.
>>>Do I think that the N-S will take a look
>>>at the dark side of immigration? No. Why?
>>>Oh, because one, that would require real
>>>reporting and 2, it wouldn't be "nice."
Why beat up on the N-S? I can think of very few media outlets that would write about the dark side of illegal alien migration.
Somebody on the other side of the issue would be sure to call any close examination of these people racist. Even though such a charge would be without merit, it could be a legal nuisance for that brave news outlet.
If any liberal publication were to write about the dark side of alien border-jumpers, they would no doubt purposely misconstrue your term "dark side" to mean these poor folks' "victimization" by smugglers and the border patrol.
But somebody does need to write about the dark side, nice or not. People need all the information to make informed decisions.
"Why beat up on the N-S? I can think of very few media outlets that would write about the dark side of illegal alien migration."
Well, you're right that very few mainstream media news outlets report about the dark side of immigration, both legal and illegal, but that doesn't really let the N-S off the hook, does it? Particularly when they're running a series called, "Portrayals of a changing city." As the N-S says in introducing the series, "The last decade has brought great change to the face of Fort Wayne. With lower housing costs and job opportunities, the city has become a haven for immigrants and refugees looking to start a new life."
Now, I could be wrong to jump to the conclusion that this series (written and published by the N-S) will not take a deep, critical look at immigration. I will be THRILLED if I'm wrong.
I fear, though, that it will be yet another series in which we learn how the community is "enriched by diversity." Bah. As John Jay said in Federalist No. 2, "With equal pleasure I have as often taken notice that Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people -- a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established general liberty and independence."