Many palliate themselves with the notion that, by golly, after a generation or two these folks will assimilate. But why? Why would a person who is encouraged to hyphenate himself (fill-in-the-blank-American), who is not pressured to conform to our culture or learn our language, who is so puffed up with ethnic pride that he ascribes superiority to his “native” land while viewing the one that suckles him with disdain, ever contemplate assimilation? Never mind, we know the answer.
So, assimilation? Sure, but we are the ones being assimilated. And if you think it’s bad now, wait until 70 million more Mexicans and Moslems strengthen us with their diversity.
Theoretically, we could still right the ship, but there’s a formidable psychological stumbling block. We’ve been inured to invasion, sedated with the supposition that immigration is as American as baseball and apple pie. But there is nothing at all American about support for policies that guarantee the destruction of America.
The FBI just foiled a terrorist plot involving an attack on Fort Dix, NJ, one illustrating the nature of our problem well, as three of the suspects are here illegally.
And three are here legally.
Were it not for the Immigration Reform Act of 1965, we wouldn’t have to worry about Moslem terrorism on our soil. We wouldn’t be beset by ultra-violent, terrorist-enabling gangs such as MS-13, either. You see, these folks would presently be where their hearts are – in their homelands.
So don’t ask me why I won’t give a nod to legal immigration as I oppose the illegal variety. You might as well ask why I won’t choose a slow death over a quick one.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
The bill you say kept America clean for the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants in America was the bill that the Immigration Act of 1965 reformed.
That bill agreed to by a combination of nativist bigots and labor unions shut the door on the swindling kikes, the greasy dagos and Greeks, the oily Armenians, Turks and Lebanese and all the other "trash" the nativist bigots in America wanted to keep out. And these are the precise terms the nativist bigots used in their propaganda to pass this bill to shut America's doors to immigrants.
I know this because my father, his siblings and grandmother arrived in the United States just months before it was to go into effect.
One of the results of this bill was that all those swindling kikes running away from Hitler had to run somewhere else... Most of them couldn't, you see,- nobody wanted them. But that is not your problem, is it? Of course not!!
Now don't get me wrong. I live in Samaria, in Israel, and would not dream of telling Americans how to run their country. I left because the American "dream" was becoming a nightmare of assimilation to me. But this is also the reason I tell all my Jewish compatriots to get the hell out of your country. The American dream is about to turn to a nightmare for them.
If my Jewish compatriots do come home, you won't have all those swindling kikes to deal with anymore. Think of how good that would be!!
Now, if you Americans would get your damned noses out of our affairs, we could bring some order to this chaotic place...
2 - Dave Nalle
Hey, I've got an idea. Let's go right to the real source of the problem - jobs. If we didn't need workers to fill jobs in industries like construction and fast food we wouldn't need illegals. So let's just stop building houses and eating and maybe the evil aliens will just magically go away.
Dave
3 - B. Schulz
At last, somebody who actually understands history! And leave it to the critics to not be able to understand the difference between immigrants who want to come here to be part of the "American Experience" and those who want to change America into their foreign land. To welcome one and want to keep the other out is not bigotry or nativism, it is in fact fighting the bigotry of others who wish impose their way on a free society. The writing on the Statue of Liberty does not say "come to America and recreate you culture here while forcing your neighbors to cater to you and your beliefs".
And there are many other good reasons that we should be enforcing our immigration law besides those mentioned in the article. First, Americans have the right to protect our environment against over-population. U.S. Citizen born population growth has stabilized. Our population growth now comes from immigration, much of which is illegal. This illegal growth has driven development related destruction of our environment into high gear. Buildable land in the Western U.S. has become scarce, forcing people to build on marginal wild lands. In the Midwest our farm land is disappearing at an alarming rate. The growing power needs of our cities are being met with proposals to run power lines across national forests, grasslands, and wilderness areas. Animals once common are disappearing due to habitat loss. Water levels in western reservoirs are falling, the land around Phoenix is sinking due to water table depletion, and the Colorado River almost disappears at the Mexican border. The west is running so low on water people are planning to divert water from the Great Lakes to fix the problem. Imagine the environmental damage across the northern U.S. that would cause, all due to population growth. And more people burn more fossil fuels. When global warming eliminates our glaciers the loss of run-off means even less water. Meanwhile, environmental groups laugh it off by blaming sprawl on rich home buyers, conveniently forgetting that someone had to buy their old place or they would not have been able to move.
Second, our illegal immigration is made up primarily of low-skilled workers. There was a study done by Robert Rector that states that the average low-skill household received $22,449 per year more in benefits than it paid in taxes " $32,138 in benefits, excluding public goods, minus $9,689 in taxes. To make matters worse, if you take the U.S. average per capita wage and compare it to the average per capita GDP you find that the average worker increases our economy by about $22,000 more than the wages paid to them. So the entire economic benefit of the Illegal Immigrant residing in the U.S. is eaten up by the benefits paid to the Illegal Immigrant. Worse, because according to George Borjas, working unskilled Immigrants (almost exclusively made up of Illegal Immigrants) result in the transfer of $160 billion in wealth from the lowest paid of U.S. Workers to their Employers and the users of services provided by those workers. The Rich get richer and the Poor get poorer. And with Amnesty the U.S. Citizens in the Middle Class and the Poor get to pay the bill.
Third, in the occupations most effected by illegal immigration The Pew Hispanic Center estimated that U.S. Citizens and Legal Residents fill three quarters of all agricultural jobs, 83 percent of office and house cleaning positions, 86 percent of construction jobs and 88 percent in food preparation. There are more unemployed U.S. Citizens and Legal Residents (8.1 million not counting teens looking for seasonal work) than there are working Illegal Immigrants (6.3 million) per U.S. Government Statistics. Wages for all unskilled labor are down an average of 8% per George Borjas thanks to Illegal Immigration. We owe it to those U.S. Citizen families whose lives are being destroyed by unemployment to deport people who have illegally taken their jobs from them by undercutting their wages.
And finally, Illegal Immigration perpetuates poverty in the third world by keeping the development that would solve the Illegal Immigrant problem in the U.S. In the past, when the U.S. had more jobs than there were workers, those excess jobs were exported to other countries. A few decades ago that process resulted in the economic development of Korea, Taiwan, and the other economic powers of the pacific called the “Five Tigers”. At no point did their development make the U.S. economically weak. Now let’s take Mexico for an example. Per the Pew Hispanic Center six million Mexicans have illegally immigrated to the U.S., over three million of which are working. Per the CIA World Fact Book the 2006 GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of Mexico was $741.5 billion and the Labor Force numbered 38 million. That means that the average GDP per working person was $19,513. If the U.S. had exported three million jobs to Mexico, the six million illegal immigrants would have stayed home at home, and we would have pumped $59 billion in wages into the Mexican economy if they were paid at the average GDP rate. In the U.S. economy approximately 57% of our GDP is made up of wages. What this means is that wages generate business, which in turn generates more wages, which in turn generate more business and so on. Assuming this same job multiplier effect for Mexico means that an additional $59 billion in wages added to the Mexican economy would increase the GDP of Mexico by more that $103 billion or 14%. But instead, greedy people want a continued source of cheap labor and like true misers they what to keep economic development in their own backyard while denying it to other countries. So the very act of supporting illegal immigration chokes off the very development that would solve the illegal immigration problem.
And to those who feel that local authorities should choose not to help enforce Immigration Law, then I would ask what other Federal Laws should we choose not enforce? Maybe you feel we should not enforce anti-discrimination law? And what about freedom of the press? And do you want to stop enforcing Title IX? And of course there are those pesky anti-pollution laws and the Endangered Species Act. If you start enforcing only those laws you agree with and ignore those you do not, you loose there moral authority to expect others to enforce the laws you do like. So if you want local law enforcement to help protect the Wolves in Minnesota, to help protect the Alligator in Florida, to help protect the Spotted Owl in Oregon, then you need to help protect your fellow countrymen from the lowering of wages, the increase in taxes, and the identity theft that comes with letting Illegal Immigrants stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation.
4 - Jerry
Mr. Duke may tend towards extreme nativism, but he makes some good points that can't be answered by Ruvy's emotional outburst or Dave's over-simplification (a concept he eschews).
Face it, Ellis Island it is not, and to try and characterize it as such is foolishness
5 - Dave Nalle
Jerry, what you see in this article is oversimplification of the most extreme sort. The 'all immigrants are bad' approach doesn't fly in light of the realities of legal and illegal immigration. The overwhelming majority of immigrants DO want to assimilate and DO learn English and are in fact among the harshest critics of those who try to promote anti-americanism for political reasons.
He's making the far too common mistake of taking tiny groups like La Raza which really only have a following in California, and even there it's not too large, and trying to apply their anti-americanism to all immigrants, and that's grossly unfair.
Here in Austin we had a naturalization ceremony last week where hundreds of immigrants from all over the world - only about a third from Mexico - swore allegiance to the US and the Constitution. They did it in English after having passed a test in English which included the usual questions on US history and law. Hell, they probably know more about our government and history than most high-school graduates.
Frankly, I'm proud to live in a country which people want to come to, and much less proud to share it with those who conceal a cowardly racism under the same old nativist rhetoric.
Dave
6 - B. Schulz
Dave - virtually ALL of the major U.S. cities of the American Southwest are running out of water due to population growth. Many in that part of the country want to tap the Great Lakes to fix their problem. It's not bad enough that they destroy their own ecologies with overpopulation, now they want to destroy the upper midwest to fix their problems so they can let in even more people. Yet you imply that people who want to limit immigration to protect our environment as people "who conceal a cowardly racism under the same old nativist rhetoric". For those of us in that part of the country who will be stepped on by those same immigrants as they come looking for water, I would say that those who support excessive immigration, especially the illegal kind are no better than strip miners who leave environmental devestation behind, polluters who gave us Love Canal and the burning of the Cayahoga River, and the smelting industry that gave us Acid Rain.
7 - Jerry
Dave -
I honestly can appreciate your hopeful idealism, and the reality that there are truly good immigrants who want to become American's in a genuine way; I really want to believe the way you do on this issue but I can't.
The problems are growing exponentially, and it is far too complex of a problem to write off so easily.
When my ancestors immigrated from Denmark and Italy through Ellis Island. They retained some of their national identity and cultural characteristics, but their desire to become fully American was the strongest force at work.
Overall, we are not seeing this with Mexican and Latin American immigrants anymore, and most likely not with Muslims, if the European pattern follows suit here.
Mr. Schulz is bringing up valid concerns as well, and 50 other people could bring up different concerns pertaining to this issue. The nativist racist line will only go so far. It is especially shallow as I read daily accounts of criminal activity in my area committed by illegal's including the home invasion, robbery and shooting of a 13 yr. old girl this past weekend.
8 - Dave Nalle
Schulz. Could you list for me some Southwestern US cities which have water shortages which have not had them on a regular basis for years?
I did a little research for you. Tom Babcock the water conservation coordinator for Phoenix says they face no problems with a water shortage and have had a decline in usage because of conservation measures in the last 20 years.
No water shortages here in Texas, of course. We've had extraordinary levels of rain and are expecting more as the year goes on. Plus all of our major cities get their water from large river systems which are all running high.
Again, the problem comes down to California just like the problem with 'bad' illegals seems to. But the problem in California is mostly water management. They've had record rains in recent years because of El Nino, but have made little effort to conserve or make use of the extra water. The problem in California isn't that there's too little water, it's that it's in the wrong places as more and more population moves into the more arid areas.
Consider the issue of population density. Israel has one of the highest population densities in the world at over 300 people/sq mile. It's also basically a desert - far more arid than California overall. By comparison California's population density is about 220 overall. Yet through the use of technology, conservation and a water management plan dating back to the 1950s, Israel expects to have substantially more water for its population by 2020 than they have now, and they have a hell of a lot less to work with as far as resources than California does.
Dave
9 - Jerry
Dave - I have recently had the opportunity to spend a couple of weeks working in Las Vegas. They are one non-Cal desert city facing water shortages. The mighty Colorado and Lake Mead are being stretched thin as upstream users suffering limited supplies aren't willing to let go of as much.
Another is Albuquerque. Their diminishing aquifer has resulted in the need to build a tunnel under the Continental Divide in order to tap into the San Juan river which runs through the NW corner of NM, and this is not a permanent solution.
Climatologists believe the SW US will continue in a long term drought which will only be exacerbated by over-population.
See links: USBR & US Water News
10 - Lee Richards
The U.S. in 50 years will have replaced the cultural, political, racial and socio-economic identity it has forged over the past 50-75 years with a new one, because of immigration.
It's not racist or nativist to point out that fact. Whether it's a welcome change depends, of course, on individual values and views of how America should evolve.
11 - B. Schulz
Dave - Cities with reported water problems:
Las Vegas - In order to continue to grow, they must try to get water rights from a nearby valley - and send the ranchers packing. And guess what - they are not waiting to see if they get the water, they are just continuing to grow - per 60 minutes story.
San Diego - Experienced ground water contamination with the threat of reducing them to Colorado River Water as their main source of water. At last report they were continuing to dodge the bullet, but for how long? " story originally reported in the 1990's but buried since then.
Los Angeles - Trying to access more Northern California water as they are reaching the limits of their supply - reported in the national news about two years ago.
Phoenix - Reported in ecology textbooks as having sections experiencing as much as an 18 foot drop in the level of the land due to depletion of the water table. Recent reports stated that the situation has been stabilized with the improvement in river diversion strategy but for how long?
Colorado River - Reservoirs have been falling significantly - Scientists have been blaming it on drought even though no one can seem to quite figure out where the drought is.
Denver/Northern Texas - Here is what the Minneapolis Star Tribune published on 3/15/07: "The need to protect the Great Lakes water supply is real. Over the past three decades, there have been proposals to use water from the Great Lakes to feed a coal-slurry pipeline in Wyoming, to replenish the depleted Ogallala aquifer stretching from Texas to the Dakotas, and to ship nearly 800 million gallons of Lake Superior water to Asia. The pressures to tap the Great Lakes, which hold 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water supply, will only intensify as global warming and growing populations increase the demand for fresh water across North America."
Israel - a poor example because they could supply their water needs with desalinization plants if need be where that is a little difficult to do in areas of the U.S. far away from any ocean. Also, last time I checked, Israel was not know for the wild, preserved lands that have been lightly touched by human hands. If your proposal is to use the land like Isreal does why not just propose that all our national forests be cut down and converted to housing for Illegal Immigrants. It would be a lot more honest than overpopulating our cities until the surrounding forests collapse due to water diversion and human encroachment. I do not know about you but I am old enough to have seen countless acres of wild lands turned into cities " camps for children lost to development as they are surrounded by housing and the land becomes too valuable to keep as camping lands. The Keys Deer would be extinct today if it were not for a Boy Scout Camp that gave them refuge. How soon before someone comes in and tries to take away the camp away from them because there is no where else the deer can live due to over population?
12 - Clavos
I, for one think it's good. The society that doesn't evolve stagnates and withers.
As a bicultural, bilingual, dual citizen of both the USA and Mexico, I see good in both (as well as bad, of course) and think that a melding of those two cultures has great potential.
I don't see the US culture disappearing in such a blend, either. Rather, I see it continuing to be the dominant element, but with a delicious leavening of Latin spice.
The foreshadowing of it has already happened here in Miami, and it's quite interesting and exciting (though not perfect, by any means). It does work, however.
13 - STM
Forget illegal immigratuion. You really will be bilingual when Australia becomes the next frontier of the US and the 51st-58th states. You won't have enough space in the corner of your flag for any more stars and will likely have to revert to the Union Jack just to avoid problems. Ah, I can see it now. Multi-culturalism at its most bizarre.
14 - Clavos
Talk about adding spice, mate!
15 - STM
And with our water shortage, everyone will be forced to drink beer instead. Oh, wait ...
16 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
My, my,
I see that Brother Selwyn has not been back to defend the White Christian America immigration bill of 1922 that his article so extolled (by excoriating the Immigration Reform Act of 1965), and the rest of you have contented yourselves with muttering about water shortages and a little bit of "Latin spice" in America's population.
Let me pour myself a bit of bubbly (water) while I comment on immigration to America and on population trends drinking up resources - two different issues entirely..
By and large, Dave's comment #5 is an appropriate response for someone defending the Immigration Reform Act of 1965 who hasn't felt the discriminatory lash of the policy it reformed. My late cousin Raquel was forced to go la Havana in 1928 rather than New York, when she fled General Pilsudski's dictatorship in 1928. It was only in 1955 that she was finally able to get to America.
Just a quick note to Stan. We all know that for decades your had a "white Australia" policy to keep the mob from Asia from snuffing out that little white
colonycommonwealth of convict Irishmen, Scotsmen, and (dare we say it?) Englishmen, in a sea of yellow.But the topic was America and its immigration problems, so let's leave off of Oz.
First off, if you Americans insist on moving to deserts (like LA and Los Vegas) and installing swimming pools, you WILL have water shortages and you WILL eventually drink up Lake Superior. Don't blame immigrants who want better (or bigger) meals than they can get in Honduras or Mexico from joining you there, if that is where there is money to be made.
Second off, America has this big calling card in New York Harbor telling the world how she will gather in the tempest tossed and masses yearning to breathe free. Actually, that is your real problem. So long as the New Colussus remains standing in New York Harbor, it will be the symbol to the world, the beacon of hope, however false, that America represents to the world. And it will draw people to your shores, whether they come in legally or illegally.
That calling card is dramatic. It is the best advertising symbol in the world, next to Santa Claus. Something dramatic would have to happen to that calling card before people would view your country differently. Just so you know, there is a 1,500 year old Jewish prophecy that when this Colossus does fall, your nation will be finished.
And now, I wish you all a good morning from the mountains of Samaria. Business calls.
17 - Dr Dreadful
Stan, I see that your ongoing determination to put small Union Jacks in corners everywhere shows no sign of flagging.
...Ouch!
18 - STM
Mate, someone has to pick up the ball and run with it. You blokes seem to spend most of your time under the woodwork these days, looking at the ground. Perhaps we've taken up your cause, and one day you'll all come back on side.
In the meantime, there are heathens and barbarians to convert. They know nothing about good flag design and need to told.
19 - Dr Dreadful
You blokes seem to spend most of your time under the woodwork these days, looking at the ground.
I thought you were about to say that "us blokes" spend most of our time these days standing forlornly in the centre of a large grass oval, watching five small pieces of wood fly in all directions, courtesy of a grinning Australian 22 yards away.
But either description will do.
20 - STM
Yes, cricket and rugby. Two of the great civilising legacies of the Poms. Time for us all to take that civilisation into the heartland of the heathens and the great unwashed. I believe you are currently living among them.
You must join me on July 4 in offering heartfelt commiserations on the anniversary of their great mistake in breaking away from the British Empire.
21 - Clavos
You must join me on July 4 in offering heartfelt commiserations on the anniversary of their great mistake in breaking away from the British Empire.
Ahem.
You Pom/Aussie blokes just can't let go of that, can you?
Might there be a certain element of damaged pride involved?
22 - Dr Dreadful
See that bulge in the side of Stan's face, Clav? That's his tongue, shoved firmly into his cheek.
Personally, I intend to enjoy some barbecued hot dogs and burgers on July 4th while watching a nice fireworks display at the local high school - or maybe whiz around on the lake. Any excuse for a day off work is good, I say.
23 - Clavos
Oh, I know, Dr. D.
I just enjoy needling SurferDude from time to time (as does he, me).
24 - Dr Dreadful
I realise that... I enjoy doing the same to Archie occasionally. The difference is that because Arch has no sense of humor (at least none that he's exhibited on here) it almost seems a bit less honorable, kind of like pulling the wings off flies.
25 - Jerry
Clavos #12 -
In regards to immigration much of your understanding is based on observation of the Cuban experience in Florida. Dave also mentions his observations of the Austin area. These are pretty limited perspectives of the issue.
You could tell me far more about Cuban Americans than I could begin to state, but one thing I know for sure is that most of them despised the leftist policies of Castro.They longed for and acquired a true appreciation for America and it's freedoms, and are certainly not representative of most immigrants of Hispanic origin.
The real problem is one of a conflict of world views and political/social philosophy, not national origin, race or ancestry. Under the current atmosphere the country is unable to assimilate (conform to the mind-set that cultivates interest in national survival)all the newcomers.
What is happening now in many other parts of the country is the co-opting of immigrants by leftists salivating over the potential voter bloc at their disposal. Dave is correct to state that it is originating with La Raza and others primarily on the left coast, but it is a growing movement that will likely bring some bitter leaven along with the "latin spice".