Posted on 04/03/2006 6:27:37 AM PDT by conservativecorner
One of the most striking features of the immigration debate now raging in Washington is that none of the Democratic or Republican proposals seem to hold any appeal for ordinary Americans—which is why this debate is generating so much frustration among voters that no matter which proposal Congress adopts, the issue itself threatens to shatter both parties’ bases and dominate the November elections.
Simply put, the debate in Washington isn’t about “immigration” at all – and that’s the problem.
To ordinary Americans, the definition of “immigration” is very specific: You come here with absolutely nothing except a burning desire to be an American. You start off at some miserable, low-paying job that at least puts a roof over your family’s head and food on the table. You put your kids in school, tell them how lucky they are to be here – and make darn sure they do well even if that means hiring a tutor and taking a second, or third, job to pay for it. You learn English, even if you’ve got to take classes at night when you’re dead tired. You play by the rules—which means you pay your taxes, get a driver’s license and insure your car so that if yours hits mine, I can recover the cost of the damages. And you file for citizenship the first day you’re eligible.
Do all this and you become an American like all the rest of us. Your kids will lose their accents, move into the mainstream, and retain little of their heritage except a few words of your language and – if you’re lucky—an irresistible urge to visit you now and then for some of mom’s old-country cooking.
This is how the Italians made it, the Germans made it, the Dutch made it, the Poles made it, the Jews made it, and more recently how the Cubans and the Vietnamese made it. The process isn’t easy – but it works and that’s the way ordinary Americans want to keep it.
The Two Hispanic Groups
But the millions of Hispanics who have come to our country in the last several decades – and it’s the Hispanics we’re talking about in this debate, not those from other cultures—are, in fact, two distinct groups. The first group is comprised of “immigrants” just like all the others, who have put the old country behind them and want only to be Americans. They aren’t the problem. Indeed, most Americans welcome them among us, as we have welcomed so many other cultures.
The problem is the second group of Hispanics. They aren’t immigrants – which is what neither the Democratic or Republican leadership seems to understand, or wants to acknowledge. They have come here solely for jobs, which isn’t the same thing at all. (And many of them have come here illegally.) Whether they remain in the U.S. for one year, or ten years – or for the rest of their lives – they don’t conduct themselves like immigrants. Yes, they work hard to put roofs above their heads and food on their tables – and for this we respect them. But they have little interest in learning English themselves, and instead demand that we make it possible for them to function here in Spanish. They put their children in our schools, but don’t always demand as much from them as previous groups demanded of their kids. They don’t always pay their taxes – or insure their cars.
In short, they aren’t playing by the rules that our families played by when they immigrated to this country. And to ordinary Americans this behavior is deeply – very deeply – offensive. We see it unfolding every day in our communities, and we don’t like it. This is what none of our politicians either understands, or dares to say aloud. Instead, they blather on – and on – about “amnesty” and “border security” without ever coming to grips with what is so visible, and so offensive, to so many of us – namely, all these foreigners among us who aren’t behaving like immigrants.
The phrase we use to describe foreigners who come here not as “immigrants” but merely for jobs is “guest workers.” And we are told – incessantly – that we need these “guest workers” because they take jobs that Americans don’t want and won’t take themselves. This is true, but it’s also disingenuous. Throughout our country’s history, immigrants have always taken jobs that Americans don’t want and won’t take themselves. For crying out loud, no foreigner has ever come to our country out of a blazing ambition to dig ditches, mow lawns, bag groceries, sew clothing or clean other people’s houses. If we hadn’t always had a huge number of these miserable jobs available that none of “us” would do – there wouldn’t have been a way for immigrants throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to step off the boat and find work.
A willingness by “immigrants” to start at the bottom – so they can move up the economic ladder or at least give their kids a shot at the higher rungs – is precisely how the system is supposed to work. And it always has. (My own family is one of the tens of millions that did precisely this. My grandfather came from Poland and found work as a pocket-maker in New York’s garment district. The pay was low, the hours were long, and when the old man finally retired he could hardly move his fingers or see without thick glasses. Yet one of his sons, my uncle, became a lawyer with a fancy practice on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. His kids did even better; his son wound up chairman of Stanford University’s history department, and his daughter became a famous art critic, moved to London, and married an Englishman who became a member of the House of Lords. What is astonishing about this story is that – it isn’t astonishing. It’s the sort of thing that happens all the time, and it’s why ordinary Americans don’t want to change the system that made it possible.)
Blame the Birth Rate
One fact that hasn’t been part of the immigration debate is this: During the past two decades our national birth rate has dropped to just below the 2.1 births-per-woman replacement rate. So we really do need to “import” people because – to put it bluntly – we haven’t bred enough of them ourselves to do all the work that needs to be done in an affluent, ageing society like ours. But then, we’ve always needed “more” people to do the work we want done. And we’ve always brought them in from elsewhere – as immigrants.
Yet today we have millions of foreigners among us who have come here to work, but not to immigrate. Our politicians tell us that we must accept this because – for the first time in our history—we’ve reached that point when we need “guest workers” who aren’t immigrants to keep our economy growing. If this is true—and isn’t it odd that no one has troubled to explain why it’s true – then we must find some way to distinguish between “immigrants” and “guest workers” so that they aren’t treated the same just because they both are here. And if it isn’t true that our continued economic growth requires “guest workers” who aren’t immigrants—then the entire concept of “guest workers” that lies at the core of virtually every proposal now before Congress, including amnesty for those who are here illegally, must be abandoned in favor of something that makes sense.
Until our elected officials come to grips with the real issue that’s troubling ordinary Americans – not a growing population of foreigners among us, but rather a growing population of foreigners among us who aren’t behaving like immigrants – public frustration will grow no matter what bill Congress passes in the coming weeks. It could lead to the kind of political explosion that none of us really wants.
Herbert E. Meyer served during the Reagan Administration as Special Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence and Vice Chairman of the CIA’s National Intelligence Council. His DVD on The Siege of Western Civilization has become an international best-seller.
IN WHICH IT IS EXPLAINED THAT THE BIGGEST LATINO ORGANIZATION DREADS BECOMING AMERICAN [Michael Ledeen]
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, in a thoughtful editorial yesterday, called attention to the email sent out by La Raza, the biggest Latino organization in the United States, first mentioned by The Corner last Thursday:
The e-mail refers to congressional legislation that would, among other things, (a) provide grants to immigrants taking English classes, (b) permit those who gain English proficiency to apply for citizenship one year early, and (c) provide grants to groups offering instruction in U.S. civics and American history. These ideas hardly seem provocative; learning English and American civics used to be something immigrants did enthusiastically. The e-mail about the bill, however, warns that "while it doesn't overtly mention assimilation, it is very strong on the patriotism and traditional American values language in a way which is potentially dangerous to our communities."
(More on the memo here.)
It sounds like La Raza has proclaimed itself un-American, don't you think? They don't want their people to assimilate, and they don't seem to like "patriotism" or "traditional American values."
Somebody might mention this to President Bush...
Our masters will shove something down our throats this week. IMHO
Still, just more of the same. Cure the symptom, rather than the cause.
ping
Thank you, Mr. Meyer. That sums it all up beautifully.
That doesn't adequately describe the anti-Americanism of this group.
This is very well written, and describes the MAJORITY of amrican citizens feeling towards this subject. Is anyone in Washington listening?
Bump! Brillant article, best I'm read in a long long time.
This is what I've been trying to get across the past couple of weeks. There is a BIG difference between immigrants and illegal aliens.
Secondly, they need to have a job waiting when they apply. If a business owner is so impressed by their work ethic that the business owner will guarantee a job waiting at the end of the weed out process - OK, you got your "guest worker" card.
If you haven't got a guarantee from a business owner of a job - too bad, you better find one fast.
You have to make the "guest worker" card as foolproof as possible so that the illegals that don't want to go through the process can't just copy it on a xerox and change the name.
After a time frame to be determined, and advertised, if you can't show some form of ID, you are detained. If no one can come up with some type of proof that you're an American citizen, or a certified "guest worker" - You're outta here.
I don't care to where. Drop them at the 12 mile international limit and let them swim, send them back to a country of origin, if one can be identified, or just send them to the work camp in Tennessee where they are parcelled out to the crews that pick up garbage. Three hots and a cot, that's it.
Of course all this depends on our vaunted leaders enforcing laws and securing the southern border.
bump
Good article, however I disagree with one notion - the distinction that there is 'immigrant work' and 'non immigrant work.' All these jobs have been done by Americans. These are 'entry level' jobs which have typically been done by the young. Immigrants are often 'young' in the country if they arrive with few job or language skills. There is no shame starting at the beginning even if one arrives here beyond their beginning years but I certainly wouldn't say they only do 'immigrant' jobs.
bttd.......back to the desert.......
If this is what is supposed to have been "astute intelligence analysis", no wonder the CIA is in severe trouble. The problem is ILLEGAL immigrants, which are of all nationalities and races. Admittedly, Mexican Hispanics are probably the single LARGEST group--but they should ALL be deported forthwith.
This is really a "two-factor problem":
Legal immigrant-----welcome to the USA
Illegal immigrant---frogmarch onto plane (or bus) back home.
bump
Very true........not that it matters a damn as long as the political whores continue to do as they please.
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