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.It's a white flight wave down there while property values are dropping like the proverbial rock. Something about people needing bars on their windows and company going to ATMs...
no kidding
wonder how they are treating the last Bush memo around here
no more trying to parse where he stands
This is a joke right? Nobody ever said that an expired Visa doesn't make somebody illegal.
Do you have an actual point that you are arguing with?
I never said otherwise. I know people who came here on the Mariel boat lift....during which thousands of criminals from Castro's jails were shipped to the US.
I just don't believe in punishing the majority who simply are looking for a better life, for a minority of criminals.
How dare you compare Cubans looking for freedom from Marxist tyranny to illegals from Mexico just looking for better paying jobs or the dole?
and the Cubans didn't come illegally
and btw Clinto made it harder for Cubans to get asylum here now reversing 35 years of precedence
has sweet caring pro-hispanic Presidente Jorge done squat to reverse that executive order?
Not!
God help us would that all these streaming in illegally now were anything like the early Cuban expat Patriots
but they are not
I really don't care where they came from. An illegal is an illegal, no exceptions, period. Anyone in this country illegally can get the hell out--now.
I care about where they come from legally....I want folks more likely to be assimilated and conservative....and limited to something practical
Used to be there was no such thing as Cuban illegals till Clinton changed it
1) I was responding to the idea that criminals from a country taint the rest of those who come from there.
Try to keep closer track of the exchange next time.
2) Regardless, I'll make any comparison I want with or without your approval.
I met plenty of people in Florida who made the exact same arguments against Cuban immigrants as you do against Mexicans.
I wonder if that had ANYTHING to do with the Mariel Boat Lift disaster under Jimmy Carter? Duh..
The unwillingness to come here Legally is all about lawbreaking, will always be about lawbreaking and deserves nothing but contempt for those who benefit by it and support it.
Furthermore this is no longer an issue just about jobs. This is an issue that has everything under the sun to do with our National Security.
Both borders, north and south are as wide open as they can be. Nobody will ever convince me that those who wish our destruction have not already figured that out and taken massive advantage of it.
Clinton stopped Cubans because he didn't like how they voted in SFL....even the criminals.
Cubans are very patriotic....and would never dream of this Azatlan crapola
My beef is not just Mexicans....but all illegals....wouldn't matter where they are from.
I want them to go home and come back slowly and orderly on temporary work permits like in the old days.
Cubans and Mexican illegals are simply not comparable in any respect except they both speak Spanish more or less.
Have fun Monday....will you and clawrence3 be on the same bus?
I want a realistic legal immigration policy.
I ant my borders, language and culture upheld and secure.
I will oppose Reconquista with all my might as well as what will be mostly a Dem voting bloc for generations.
You are on the right forum apparently Jorge and have an amnesty POTUS....we hope to change all that when the time comes. Keep marching....it's helping real Americans
I agree. They truly appreciate American freedom and values after living under that monster Castro.
There are more than 100,000 dead Cubans at the bottom of the Florida Straits attesting to this fact.
So do I.
Unfortunately, that isn't what we're getting.
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