Posted on 04/20/2006 7:16:53 PM PDT by Coleus
National Catholic Register (www.ncregister.com/)
The giant immigration marches in April were almost surreal. The attitude of the protest organizers often made them seem inauthentic – but the critics didn’t seem to have their facts straight, either.
First, consider the protesters.
Groups, like A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism), swelled the ranks of marchers in major cities. But, like other activist organizations at the marches, A.N.S.W.E.R. isn’t an immigration group. It’s a communist group that actually opposes Cuban immigrants. But they were there in force – as they are at pro-abortion marches, anti-war marches and anti-globalism marches – selling Che Guevera T-shirts and building their mailing lists.
Signs that said “Bush Step Down” and “Bush is the real terrorist” were common at the rallies. But that doesn’t seem wise. Did the marchers not know that Bush is the one who first proposed the national “guest worker” program for illegal immigrants that they were marching for? Did they remember how his decision to do so imperiled his re-election by angering his conservative supporters?
If the march organizers really put immigration policy as their highest priority, you would think they would court the sympathetic president as a key ally – not antagonize and alienate him. That they didn’t do so raises sharp questions about their credibility and their true agenda. But the critics of the march were just as bad.
Talk radio chattered endlessly about the drain heavy immigration put on America’s resources, but without much understanding of what is at stake. Conservatives were furious at a Republican-supported bill that they say “caved” by agreeing to make illegal immigration a misdemeanor rather than a felony.But they didn’t seem to realize that illegal immigration has always been a misdemeanor – and that to make it a felony would increase the drain on America’s resources 100-fold.
If illegal immigration remains a misdemeanor, then cases can be dealt with efficiently and quickly. If security is your fear, this would be the solution. If talk radio show hosts had their way and it became a felony, then each accused illegal case would be entitled as a felon to a jury trial and a court-appointed lawyer and subject to a much longer process. It was also instructive to listen to the attempts radio shows made to play “Gotcha” with the protesters. Reporters who interviewed actual protesters found surprising stories that didn’t quite support the “immigrant threat” storyline.One Mexican immigrant told Sean Hannity’s program that he had been in the country illegally for 12 years, working hard, paying taxes and raising a family. Another reporter met a doctor who was waiting on tables and learning English. Another was a dishwasher with a master’s degree.
These stories of hard-working immigrants suggest that immigration is a net gain, not a drain, for America. The assumption seems to be that immigrants will come to America, stay on the low end of the economic spectrum, then call over for the sick and weak of their families and put them on welfare. Certainly, plenty will do exactly that. But by and large, today’s immigrants seem to be following in the footsteps of immigrants before them – they are people bold and imaginative enough to leave the comfort of their homelands to stake their futures on their ability to work hard enough to build a better life elsewhere.This entrepreneurial immigrant spirit is precisely what we call “the American spirit.”
As for draining America’s resources: Americans should be more fearful of a future without heavy immigration than one with it. Over the last several decades, American family sizes have decreased nearly as much as European family sizes. Without immigrants, the United States would be below replacement-level population growth. We would be losing more Americans each year than we gain. The crisis that threatens Social Security’s future would be upon us today. Without immigrants, we wouldn’t have enough workers paying into the system to support retirees. If you draw Social Security income, you should thank an immigrant.So, what’s the answer?
We like the Knights of Columbus’ resolution, which can be found on their Web site, www.KofC.org . It calls for Congress to gain control over the process of immigration in a way that will encourage, not discourage, immigration.
It is, at last, a position Catholics can applaud.Yes and reform of Bank Robbing laws should see armed robbers forgiven if it's been two years since they conducted their last heist.
And oh by the way, I'd like my taxes forgiven next year.
Illegal alien invaders are NOT immigrants.
The Catholic church is all for the criminals, judging by all the Catholic church leaders I have seen speak at illegal alien marches, in favor of them. Makes sense, this is where their new audience is. Just another reason to love the Catholic church getting involved in politics.
No matter how hard the GOP tries to grab the Latino "pro-immigrant" vote they don't have a chance in hell of succeeding. They'd be better served putting all that energy into keeping their traditional voters from straying and keeping more future Democrat voters from arriving ....and encouraging the ones already here to head back home.
How? Three moves: 1) heavily fine employers who hire illegals, 2) rescind the anchor baby laws, 3) end illegal alien welfare. No jobs + no automatic citizenship for procreating + no taxpayer freebies = no reason to stay. ....or to come in the first place.
Crisis either way. We lose the identity of this country so we can have social security or we keep this country's identity, bite the bullet and do without.
The immigrant I married better thank me!!
No it was a Felony until the mid 70's!
This method worked when we were growing up, why can't it work again?
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Bunch of anecdotal crap
When employers are not taking out payroll taxes, Social Security, etc. because they're paying illegals in cash, the illegals aren't paying into squat and aren't supporting anyone, you idiot.
And don't tell me they're paying property taxes to support the schools that warehouse their children, because you're lying.
And a felon gets a jury trial. Can you imagine how clogged our court system would become if every immigrant decided to contest his arrest? The court costs involved?
It was a mistake to reclassify illegal immigrants as felons, and even Sensenbrenner and Tancredo realize it.
A much longer process as opposed to what? The ten years or so it takes to deport one now?
This Catholic ain't applauding!
No, if they own property, they are paying property taxes.
They bitch (in spanish about that) but they pay!
My cousin married an illegal immigrant. He overstayed his student visa (blue card, I think) which he had for the Seminary where he was studying for the Catholic Priesthood..oops.
He then started making fraudulent documents, and helping to smuggle in illegals for between $3,000 to $10,000 a pop. I think it was $10,000 for pregnant women who wanted to come to the US to have their children. It was less for those who were already here who just needed a birth certificate, and social security card. He was deported twice, IIRC, but came right back to the US.
He was charged with the document forgery, and the government estimated that he had made about eight million dollars tax free by the time they closed him down.
The ninth circuit overturned his conviction on appeal-something to do with the handwriting expert, I think. I could not understand this as they busted his storefront business with all his fake document making equipment..oh, well.
His children had points added to their SAT's because they were minorities, and got scholarships to college, even though their Dad had eight million tax free dollars he could have sent them to college on.
He is now a School Counselor in the Bay Area in California.
He is one of the faces of illegal immigration, I'm not going to read about in the warm fuzzy illegal immigration stories, I guess.
And how many poverty-striken illegals do you suppose own property?
If they're illegal aren't they by definition not "on the books" and therefore paid in cash? If someone tells me that an illegal is going to file a 1040 and report cash income and write a check to the IRS and actually pay income taxes I'm going to go postal.
Thankfully I resigned my K of C membership a few months ago. They are just another go along, get along group.
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