Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Illegal Immigration Is Not A Side Issue

As the battles over health care, cap 'n tax, additional stimulus money and the host of leftist schemes rage, we mustn't lose sight of the fact that a much longer-standing battle is being waged, and the Democrats would like you to put it on the back burner. As the electorate flees the Obama agenda, the Democrats need instant voters, and they intend to get them. That plan requires quick and immense naturalization of immigrants who are in the United States illegally.

It is far too easy to fall into complacency about alien amnesty, since previous bills have gone the way of the Kyoto accords. Nevertheless, the nation is distracted with so many massive government schemes coming down the pike that an amnesty could slip through, nearly unnoticed. In addition, there are many indications that the pro-immigration crowd is much better organized for this round, and have learned how to plan their amnesty so that it slips in under the radar. On top of that, there are so many hot button issues in front of Congress that this vital issue might not produce the immediate negative reaction that the Democrats fear on most of the others.

The pro-amnesty crowd has a much more favorable environment than in the past. With the economic doldrums hurting every business, including farms, illegal immigration has fallen to near-record lows. Those who still come in find it harder to hide among the illegals hanging out in the parking lots of the local 7-11s looking for illegal wages that have dried up. Many of the illegals who have avoided committing crimes (or at least avoided getting caught) have become familiar to their legal neighbors. The criminal creation of fake visas has now nearly caught up with the influx of illegal border-crossers, lending an air of false legality to their presence in the United States. The Latino populations of some major cities have grown by such numbers that a Latin American immigrant who doesn't speak a word of English doesn't seem nearly as out of place as would have been the case fifteen or twenty years ago.

The cancer of illegal immigration is temporarily in remission, but the disease of large numbers of illegal immigrants already here is waiting to spring into full metastisization. Numbers generally hovering around twelve million describe the current state of affairs. Even the radical friend of all things French, Thomas Jefferson, once announced that the the thought of the sudden appearance of 5 million Frenchmen on America's shores demanding entry and citizen rights terrified him. He was no more a Francophobe than the vast majority of us are Latinophobes. But even the radical Jefferson could see that a constitutional republic could not long survive huge numbers of unrestrained immigrants from nations with no tradition of democracy or the rule of law becoming instant citizens.

Today, amnesty would not likely produce an instant wave of further illegal immigration, and that fact works in favor of the pro-amnesty crowd. Previous amnesties produced no sudden new influx. But we can learn from that mistake. Once the economy turned around, and we had large numbers of formerly illegal immigrants beckoning to their friends and families to come and join them, the race across the border began again in earnest. We cannot and must not repeat that mistake.

One major issue that worked against amnesty the last time has been resolved by the passage of time, organization, and the pro-union leftists in Congress and the Obama administration. Previously, there was a debilitating split in the union ranks over illegal immigration and amnesty. Many union workers and some of their union bosses saw the intrusion of illegals into the work force as harmful to the wages and perquisites of native-born union members. Today, that split has been resolved in large part, either voluntarily or by imposition from the top. The SEIU, a union much beloved of the Obama administration, owes a large portion of its success to recruiting illegal immigrants into the union. Previously, the unions favored immigrants as guest workers but still insisted that even those here legally follow the regular path to citizenship. Today, the union leaders and their thugs (as if there is any difference) see a massive potential for grabbing union dues while dictating policy to Congress and the White House. It's a deadly and dangerous brew. The undemocratic "card check" vision of the Obama administration only causes that brew to ferment more quickly.

Money from Washington DC, the assistance of coerced small business owners, union thuggery, and the activities of crypto-criminal enterprises such as ACORN have brought previously unimagined funds into the pro-amnesty, pro-illegal immigration coffers. Academia has spent considerable time and effort on convincing young voters that being against unrestricted illegal immigration is identical to being against all immigration for our "brown brethren." If you're against illegal immigration, you're a racist (even though "race" has next to nothing to do with it). Well-funded "community organizations" are then free to recruit idealistic but misinformed cadres to spread the doctrine that "illegal immigrants are just like you," hiding the obvious fact that unless you're here illegally, they are not just like you. Their very first act in the United States was to break the law. Anyone who knows psychology, history and criminology knows that the first law broken is the hardest. Each successive criminal act becomes easier, and more justifiable in the mind of the criminal.

Most illegal immigrants are law-abiding and wish to stay that way. But the lure of one primary illegal act which produces great benefits is similar to the growth of the welfare state. Even those with strong individualistic mindsets are not going to turn down government benevolence when it's handed to them without having followed the rules and walked the path that had been required of previous immigrants. The Democrats in general, and the left wing of that beleaguered party in particular, are expending immense amounts of time and energy on convincing Americans that amnesty is simply a charitable act toward the poor and downtrodden which will merely produce loyal American citizens. They are also making it clear exactly who is in favor of making their illegality into a legal status, as well as who they owe their future votes to. Loyalty is inherent in the plan, but it's not loyalty to America, or to the rule of law. It's loyalty to the party that got them their free and undeserved gift against the party of those racists who were determined to keep them out.

If the plan succeeds because we let our guard down at exactly the wrong time, there will be future Joe Bidens and Harry Reids saying things like "why don't we run so-and-so for office, since he is a light-skinned Mexican and speaks with hardly a trace of his illegal alien roots?" The plantation mentality has worked rather well for the Democrats so far, so why not extend it to a group which can be created almost instantly in large numbers? And once again, the question becomes "who are the real racists in this scenario?" After all, one can't expect poor, uneducated, unskilled, and non-English speaking border-jumpers to succeed or think for themselves without the help of the Democratic Party. That point of view is demeaning to Hispanic immigrants, patronizing to illegals, and damaging to American unity--and it's the agenda of the Democratic Party.

The issue of national security is almost entirely ignored in this ongoing clouding of the real issues involved in the cancer of illegal immigration. Still, it is a very important issue. The likelihood of a large influx of Latino terrorists is slim, though the influx of murderous Latino gangs cannot be ignored (it's terrorism of a different sort). Still, the open borders policy of neglect from the Obama administration combined with its utter ignorance of who the real terrorists are is a one-two punch for American national security. If our porous borders allow large numbers of illegal (but otherwise peaceable) Hispanics to make it into America on a daily basis, how can we protect ourselves from Islamofascists slipping in with them? A "coyote" is in it for the money, and Al Qaeda has plenty of cash. Amnesty assures that "once you're in, you get to stay." Leftist city governments with "sanctuary" policies help to exacerbate the problem. These policies hover somewhere between dangerous naivete and willful sabotage.

As always, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. We must not lose sight of the danger of illegal immigration and amnesty amidst the plethora of horrendous government programs the Democrats are foisting on America. The permanency of illegals who have received amnesty will remain, even as we dismantle the economic and military stupidity of the left following the next two election cycles. Socialized medicine will be a thing of the past. Stimulus bills will be few and far between. Cap 'n tax will not go far before being reversed. If we do not suffer a major terrorist attack in the interim, the military will be strengthened and the true enemy identified and hunted into extinction. But the society-destroying amnesty cannot be undone. It has to be stopped before it can get into law. It's one thing to cripple a bad tax scheme, but quite another to take away the citizenship of a duly naturalized citizen.

So watch your representatives, stay active, voice your opinion loudly and publicly, and oppose any move on the part of Obama and Congress to "fundamentally transform" America into a banana republic via an amnesty bill.

25 comments:

Tennessee Jed said...

Your point is an excellent one, Hawk. The fact is, Democrats hold a 60% super majority and the presidency. Passing amnesty is a ticket, along with government controlled healthcare to controlling government for a long, long time.

A January 9 article by John Gaski about Democrat strategy in American Thinker gets at this very issue.

Writer X said...

This is an issue, like in California, which Arizonans are particularly sensitive to. McCain learned it the hard way, and some say he may pay for it (among other things) in the next election. I can only hope.

Unknown said...

Tennessee: As we've discussed over the past few days, the Democrats (or at least the blue dogs) are re-evaluating whether that supermajority is a good thing or not. It gives them the advantage of being able to legislate without the Republicans, but it also means that anything they pass, they "own." Most of the left's schemes are highly unpopular and highly visible, which is why I'm particularly concerned about an amnesty bill slipping past the voters unnoticed, or nearly so. This round, the issue just isn't generating the kind of heat that socialized medicine and cap 'n tax are. And amnesty can be spun into something that looks quite benign. I'll check out the Gaski article. Thanks.

Unknown said...

WriterX: We in the border states, along with the bedraggled tax-payers in states with large urban centers, are more aware of the illegal immigrant problem than are many of the "flyover" states. McCain taking a much more anti-illegal stand this time is typically cynical, but at least it helps a little. And I don't expect my reps to do a turnaround on the issue. And the "we need more voters" Democrats are putting the heat on Sheriff Joe Arpaio again in your state, I've noticed. This is going to take some hard work and plenty of publicity if we're going to stop this infusion of instant voters that the Democrats want so badly.

Unknown said...

The criminal element in the illegal alien community is large and growing. The gangs are able to intimidate their fellow illegals in a way they would be unable to do if the victims had arrived here legally. It's unfair to Americans, but it's also a nightmare for those illegals who came to the US wanting to be good people. East L.A. is very bad, as is your Mission District and much of Fresno and Bakersfield.

Unknown said...

CalFed: Good point. Criminals and victims of criminals are inevitable in a large community of illegal immigrants who are by experience at home distrustful of the police before ever arriving in the US. Inability to speak English merely exacerbates the problem, and the chances of being turned over to immigration authorities keep the peaceful illegals in constant terror of the gangs.

StanH said...

I hate to sound like a loon, but refer back to what I said yesterday. If Washington pushes amnesty this could be your flash point. The unemployment rate in construction is astronomical, even the liberal press puts it at 22%, and this doesn’t include underemployed. I have friends, and family members who have been in the trades for some for 40yrs., and these people used to do quite well. There is an animosity building that could get dangerous, as more people vie for the same jobs, with no end in sight.

Amnesty is a Washington panacea for both the right and left, and the more you hear, it gets back to the money. They have over promised the baby boomers and see it as a revenue stream, 20 million newly minted taxpayers, to prop up the Ponzi schemes of Medicare-Social Security-etc.

HamiltonsGhost said...

Lawhawk--Crime flourishes where the government is unable or unwilling to recognize basic problems. Europeans have their large Islamic immigrant problem because they refuse to recognize that different rules for immigrants leaves their own citizens unprotected and vulnerable. Large areas of Paris, Berlin and London are now "no go" zones for the police, and still the politicians refer to their growing criminal population as "disaffected youths" and "poor Asians." We compound the problem by pretending that illegals aren't here illegally, then pretending that they are all here to build a better republic and to be law-abiding supporters of American traditions.

Unknown said...

StanH: That doesn't sound loony at all. The Founders warned about the danger of large portions of the electorate discovering that they could "vote themselves largess from the public treasury." Amnesty creates an instant pool of 12 million people who are already reliant on the government's complicity in their illegal presence combined with public benefits for which they don't have to pay and won't want to pay for when they become legal. The tax, tax, tax concept will become even worse for wage-earners and businesses when an instant underclass beholden to the left of the Democratic party is created by amnesty.

In times of plenty, it's humane to welcome people from other nations to our shores to pursue the American dream (although even that doesn't mean we should ever encourage illegal entry). But charity begins at home, and right now American citizens are suffering during a horrible recession and high unemployment. This is no time to be encouraging large legal immigration, let alone illegal immigration and citizenship for those already here illegally. Leftists love class-warfare, but many of them don't understand that if the economy gets much worse, it won't be metaphorical warfare.

AndrewPrice said...

It's going to be interesting to see what they can achieve with this. They've got people really, really angry right already, and this is an issue that will turn that anger into fury. I'm betting that by the time election gets closer, they will find that a lot of Democrats start to get cold feet.

Unknown said...

HamiltonsGhost: They have their "disaffected youths" and "poor Asians." We have our "undocumented workers." For the politically-correct left, a turd smells just fine if you simply call it a rose. I've mentioned in earlier posts (SF Diary) how San Francisco's crazed city government prides itself on having created a sanctuary city par excellence.

Even after a horrific double-murder of two American citizens by a multiply-arrested illegal alien who was never reported to the immigration authorities because of city policy, the Board of Supervisors still supports averting its eyes from the huge problem of criminality in the illegal immigrant community. A few weeks back, after the mayor recognized the dangerous error in this thinking and ordered police to report all illegals to the feds when they are arrested for a felony, the Board of Supervisors overrode his decision by a veto-proof majority. The movie "Suicide Kings" should have been about the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Tam said...

As the wife of a LEGAL immigrant, I know first hand how frickin' EASY it is to become a citizen! The argument we hear that we need to help the illegal immigrants who "want to be good" doesn't hold water with me. My husband's experience comfirms in my mind that these people (Tam's a racist!) have no interest whatsover in being law abiding citizens. It comes back to the first step--they broke the law!!! Why would they want to become citizens and have to pay taxes for the benefits they already receive?

Unknown said...

Tam: I'm with you. Many of us on this site are the children or grandchildren of legal immigrants who came to America, followed the rules, learned English, and complied with all the requirements for citizenship. They took all the citizenship classes when those lessons still taught how unique America really is. How can we expect good results from those who came here illegally, cling to their old ways and refuse to learn English and American history (particularly the rule of law)?

Most immigrants who come here today for the good old reasons know more about what America was destined to be than the natives. No such feeling exists among those whose first act was to break the law. However much I may sympathize with the plight of the poor and downtrodden in other nations, it is simply impossible to absorb everyone who wants to come here legally, let alone assimilate those who came here in defiance of our borders and our laws. Amnesty rewards those who claim to want "a better life," but who are, in fact, lawbreakers from the beginning. At the same time, it narrows the numbers of places available for those who want to come here legally and enrich the nation's culture.

As you indicated, amnesty merely creates a permanent underclass of future voters entirely loyal to the Democratic Party and heavily dependent on government support taken from the law-abiding and productive American citizenry--native and legally naturalized alike.

Unknown said...

Andrew: I see this as a very hot-button issue that has temporarily been allowed to grow cold (which is why I brought it up, I guess).

You are so right about the anger. If this thing slips through because we concentrated on other issues, the result will not be pretty. We don't need to turn America into Europe with roving gangs of newly-created citizens who actually either don't understand or actively oppose our form of government and the rule of law.

California and New York are hopeless on the issue, but many border states are waking up to the danger of stealth amnesty. It's vitally important to reach those states where illegal immigration is currently minimal and get them to understand that if amnesty passes, they're next.

StanH said...

I have three bother’s in law ages 54 to 60, all three in building for decades. The oldest brother two years ago did close to 2million in business, with a dozen framing crews. Last year under 100k with one crew, he’s back running the saw, something that he hasn’t done in years, to simply survive. There are stories like this all day long, and throughout the country, and these guys are angry and getting angrier, as the hope and change kicks in. They tell me that they bid for jobs, and sometimes the customer is getting up to ten bids per, and invariably going to the illegals at 30% to 60% below their bid, unless the job comes through a reference, and they’re looking for quality. This is where amnesty could ignite rage, as Andrew stated up-thread, and this is not just in construction. What did the wise man once say, “we all can’t be poets,” we are fast becoming a country that cannot produce anything other than hot air …not good!

patti said...

as a texan, this issue is on our lips and minds daily. for those who think it a non-issue and what's the big deal, let them move to a border town for a mere month and then get back to us. illegal immigration effects every part of society. amnesty is a dangerous path...

Unknown said...

Patti: I scrupulously avoided including Texas by name in the discussion largely because it's one state that seems to have its Stetson on straight. Not only does Texas recognize its border problems, it has an active citizenry that's fed up to the neck with the whole illegal immigration problem. Texas has a large proportion of Mexican descendants who love being Texans and Americans and generally work well with the Anglo population. In California, there is a huge illegal population which is supported by the Mecha and La Raza crowd of irredentists who have no intention of working with the Anglo population. Texans know what Californians deny--legal immigration and assimilation are the only real routes to ethnic harmony. Still, Texas has problematic border towns along a much longer perimeter than California's. Texas just seems to deal with it better.

When Los Angeles elects a lesbian conservative mayor who respects diversity but supports unity (like Houston), I'll know that California is catching up with Texas.

Sal said...

I'm with patti- come down here, live for a while where your everyday life is adversely affected by illegal immigration and then get back to us with your gauzy, Ellis Island nostalgia.

My quandary: I'm a devout Catholic and our bishops are, imo, damned illogical on this subject. Look, nobody wants to harm illegals- but explain to me how envy and breaking the law are not sins.
As Jennifer Anniston asks in "Office Space", "How's that not stealing?"

Unknown said...

Sal: You won't get any argument from me. I have friends in Texas who laugh at how poorly we in California deal with our illegal immigrant problem.

The bishops' statements reflect true Christian/Catholic religious concern for the unfortunate, but I think they went outside the base lines when they encouraged illegal immigration by chiding governments for enforcing their laws.

As a devout Lutheran, I still have more admiration for the Pope than I do our local ELCA Bishop (I once told him I'd trust the Bishop of Rome over the California-based Lutheran bishop any day of the week). The Pope is said to be infallible on decisions affecting faith and morals. I could have understood if he had taken a secular view of illegal immigration, but when he added that opposition was "immoral," he lost me. So, as a full-blooded German Lutheran, I suggest that the Kraut butt out! Fortunately, he was addressing the ethnic street fights going on in Italy. LOL

levotb said...

LawHawk,

My only dispute with what you wrote is...they (illegal aliens) are NOT "immigrants" as you call them. They are Federal lawbreakers. They are Border jumpers and visa overstayers...but they are NOT "immigrants"!

Unknown said...

DaveLevine: Although I am very much opposed to illegal immigration, all the other expressions, true or not, simply define the ongoing problem. If they came from somewhere else, they have "immigrated" and are therefore "immigrants," whether they got here legally or not. They are federal lawbreakers, they are border-jumpers, and they are visa overstayers. And still, they are, well, immigrants. I use the terms "illegal immigrants" and "illegal aliens" interchangeably, since I consider that a distinction without a difference.

Anonymous said...

Get involved now to help stop "path to citizenship" a/k/a mass amnesty anarchy.

As the 1986 IRCA "comprehensive" amnesty proved, amnesties do not work and only lead to more illegal immigration.

Join NumbersUSA and make your voice heard.

Unknown said...

Anon: I get the daily updates from NumbersUSA. An invaluable site and an effective one as well. I recommend them to anyone who needs to know the most-current status of illegal immigration and amnesty legislation.

Charles said...

LawHawkSF, I read your comment to my NumbersUSA blog on unions, which mentioned this blog. I think your work is excellent! Keep it up! --CB

Unknown said...

Charles: Thanks for your comment, and I hope you'll continue to comment on our blog and keep us honest and informed on this and other topics important to conservative Americans.

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