Illegal Immigration
There were rallies all across the US today. Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, marching, chanting and waving flags, Even though the organizers told supporters to carry American flags, many of the demonstrators continued the practice of waving Mexican flags and the flags of other nations. Many bloggers have covered this and have a lot of pictures. The NYT, in a very sympathetic article, covered several of the marches. This quote says it all:
One man, José Piñeda, 30, who works at the American Girl doll factory in Madison and was at the rally with his wife and two young children, was asked if they were not afraid to march in a rally where they might be identified as illegal and therefore subject to capture or prosecution by authorities.
"No," Mr. Piñeda said. "We are not criminals."
The media have cast this in their classic class/race warfare storyline, and have made a preemptive bid to brand anyone who objects to this a racist and an enemy of the poor.
Bull. I don't have any dislike of people based on their skin color, race, ethnicity or religion. I have certain beliefs that some people's actions and choices are rather bad, but that's another discussion.
Unchecked illegal immigration will destroy the special place that is America. And despite all the howling from the fringes, it is a special place. And it will cease to exist if we do not get this issue under control. The illegals will succeed in killing the golden goose that they claim to love so much that they break the law to get here.
And yes, sir, Mr. Piñeda, you are a criminal.
UPDATE: Iowa Voice is on the same page. Build the fence. Republicans who vote to do this will beat the Democrats in November. Democrats who try to pander to the illegals will pay a bloody price from their core constituencies.
UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds weighs in with the (obvious when you think about it – and no, I didn't until he brought it up) observation that since Mexico is demanding a say in our immigration policies, we should have equal rights to demand changes in Mexico. And if they don't want to respect that idea, maybe annexing Mexico should be an option. (Clue to Republican and Democratic politicians both – you are losing the middle – which you all need. Better listen up.)
UPDATE: WaPo has a rather obviously biased report that paints the protests in a very sympathetic light. My guess is that if illegal immigrant journalists were taking their jobs, the tone would change.
UPDATE: Eckernet has a review of local news coverage from the rally he supplied photographs from. The conclusion: biased and manipulative.
Immigration Reform | Gaius April 10, 2006
By Mike's America, April 10, 2006 @ 9:45 pm
Build the fence and start enforcing immigration law. Dry up the jobs and the illegals will leave.
I went into Home Depot and Food Lion yesterday afternoon and half the people in both stores were Hispanic. I thought I was in Mexico.
By Gauis Arbo, April 10, 2006 @ 10:09 pm
I honestly believ the Republicans with any brains at all could kick serious butt on this issue. I hope they don’t miss their chance.
By Zola, April 11, 2006 @ 4:46 am
For any given amount of total immigration, it’s obviously better to have a larger fraction of that total be legal. That’s especially true if we’re worried about terrorism. So tight quotas and weak enforcement — our current policy mix — gives us the worst of both worlds.
If we want less illegal immigration, sealing the border and making illegals felons won’t help much, as long as illegals can find work. But if there aren’t jobs for them, they’ll stop coming.
Mexican immigration to the U.S. is also very good for Mexico, and the economic and political welfare of Mexico matters enormously to the U.S. If Mexico gets rich, that part of the immigration problem will mostly solve itself.
Republican owned businesses and corporate farms are one of the biggest beneficiaries of illegal labor, why do you think Bush and The Republican ruled Congress have been so lax on the problem.
Push has come to shove and conservatives have no idea but a big fence. Try selling that to the businesses that need the cheap labor. Dems aren’t the problem, its Conservatives who want all the benefits of cheap labor, but don’t want them to have full citizenship. Will conservatives end up like the lizards that eat their own.
By Gauis Arbo, April 11, 2006 @ 6:01 am
If you read some of the other post I have done on this topic, Zola, you will see that I fault both parties for their policies. Don’t kid yourself that Dem’s don’t get support from businesses, too.’
The two major drivers are cheap labor and vote buying (there are likely any number of other factors, but those are the two major ones.) Both parties policies are driven primarily by a combination of the two major factors. Only the percentage of which is a higher priority differ – and likely not by that much when you get down to it.
By Jim Vance, April 11, 2006 @ 9:11 am
We must get control of our borders. I believe that in addition to the fence that employers that hire illegal immigrants need to be given stiff fines or put in jail if they continue the practice. I have called both my senators and have been blown off by there staff. I have also written letters. Anyone who reads this please do the same thing. We must keep pressure on our represenatives to fix this problem. Before anyone ask. I am a Democratic Voter.
By Gauis Arbo, April 11, 2006 @ 9:19 am
Write a letter, Jim. Not a form letter, not an email, not a phone call. Paper letters that are not obviously part of a letter writing campaign will generally get a much higher level of attention.
By Joanna Gradilone, April 11, 2006 @ 9:22 am
My grandparents came from Italy in the 1890’s. they had to wait, learn English, take tests before they could become citizens, and they came in LEGALLY. If our government would go after the companies that are employing these people it would stop a lot of the problem. If the companies would pay the American workers a decent pay, they wouldn’t need the illegals so much. Most of the employers that use the illegals don’t pay a living wage and they don’t (the employers and the illegals) pay taxes.
By Joanna Gradilone, April 11, 2006 @ 9:25 am
Another thing is that if English is not made our official language, we’d all better be studying Spanish.
By Gauis Arbo, April 11, 2006 @ 9:35 am
No disagreement, Joanna.
By Joanna Marston, April 11, 2006 @ 12:58 pm
This is a downhill road. Read “The Partition of America — History Lessons” by Niranjan Ramakrishnan, where he says,
“But focus for a second on the delicious irony here — some of the nation’s top lawmakers, speaking at a rally whose main demand, all said and done, is that lawbreaking be overlooked.”
“There are no words to describe adequately the cheap and tawdry grandstanding by the senators and congressman who attended these rallies. And when a Mexican president publicly demands a hand in crafting America’s immigration policy, following which an American president goes to Mexico to assure the former that his will be done, it is time to ask, ‘Where is the American State?’”
When we have political prostitutes and presstitutes instead of leaders and a free press, the results are bound to follow.
By Gauis Arbo, April 11, 2006 @ 1:17 pm
Our media is not helping the country at this point. I’ve posted about this issue quite a lot, actually (illegal immigration and the bad state of the media both, actually…)
By Opal Smith, August 28, 2006 @ 6:05 pm
This is an eciting period to live in America! The Bush administration is steadily destablelizing the nation if not the world. I ask why was Iraq so very much more stable under Sadam, why was Judea stable under Pontius Pilate, The Balkans under Reinhard Heydrich? The reason is simple in the fact that when the going got tough, these men did not hideout in Crawford Texas or Kennybunkport Maine! These men were MEN OF ACTION! In the context of illegal immigration when the nation destabilizes enough, anarchy will prevail and a strong decisive leader will emerge, just look to the history books. I belive that at some point the Joint Chiefs will say enough is enough.
By Gaius, August 28, 2006 @ 7:42 pm
Well, that was incoherent.