The first installments of this ongoing discussion are here: Mrs. Don-o disputes with Catholic Diocesan official on immigration (Link)
Dear Paul,
I have done some research on issues that have come up in our Immigration correspondence, and before the weekend is upon us, I’d like to get this info sent off to you for your perusal when you find it convenient.. It deals with three debatable notions: that legal permanent residency in the U.S. is unduly restricted; that “comprehensive immigration reform” (as usually defined) is in accord with the desires and interests of those most affected, our immigrants and minorities; and that family unification ought to be advanced by a greater availability of immigration.
Ready?
First, I by am puzzled by the notion that permission for legal immigration is allowed only in extremely small numbers, and almost impossible to obtain.
In 2009, the latest year for which statistics are available, Mexico ranked #1 of all the legal permanent resident immigrants allowed into the U.S., and in very substantial numbers, accounting for about 15% of the total.
The following data is from The Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, published by the (Link) Official Legal Immigration
So there’s over 500,000 people from Mexico being admitted to the US as legal permanent residents, in just the 3 most recent years. The claim that legal immigration is largely unavailable, or allowed only in tiny numbers, is not well substantiated.
Another puzzling claim is that “comprehensive immigration reform” is sensitive to the wants and needs of immigrants and of minority people, when evidence reveals that most immigrants, like most U.S. minorities, believe both that immigration is already too high, and that more law enforcement is needed to encourage the illegals to go home.
The following figures* are from a survey of Hispanic-American, Asian-American, and African-American likely voters (i.e. citizens who hase voted in the past) conducted by Zogby International; sponsored by the Center for Immigration Studies. Link: http://cis.org/Minority-Views-Immigration
*(Percents don’t add up to 100% because I omitted “don’t know” and “other” responses)
1. Most members of minority groups think immigration is too high.
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2. Most members of minority groups think that illegal immigration is not caused by limits on legal immigration, but by a lack of enforcement.
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3. Most minorities feel that there are plenty of Americans available to fill unskilled jobs.
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4. As a solution to the problem of illegal immigration, most members of minority groups choose enforcement to encourage illegals to go home, rather than approving a plan for conditional legalization.
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These views are in sharp contrast to the leaders of most ethnic advocacy organizations, who argue for increased immigration and legalization of illegal immigrants.
Third, on “family unification”: consider the likelihood that unification could be served in a more humane and just manner by re-uniting families in Mexico.
The following article can be read in its entirety in The Washington Times:
http://tinyurl.com/mexican-wives
The women of Tecalpulco, Mexico, want the U.S. government to enforce its immigration laws because they want to force their husbands to come back home from working illegally in the U.S.
They have created an English-language Web page where they identify themselves as the "wetback wives" and broadcast their pleas, both to their men and to the U.S. government.
"To the U.S. government -- close the border, send our men home to us, even if you must deport them (only treat them in a humane manner -- please do not hurt them)," it reads.
In poignant public messages to their husbands, the women talk about their children who feel abandoned, and worry that the men have forsaken their families for other women and for the American lifestyle.
"You said you were only going to Arizona to get money for our house, but now you have been away and did not come back when your sister got married," one woman writes to a man named Pedro. "Oh how I worry that you have another woman! Don't you love me?"
It's a stark reminder of an often forgotten voice in the U.S. immigration debate -- the wives, children, parents and villages left behind as millions of workers come to the U.S., many of them illegally. The plea also underscores the dual effects of migration on Mexico: Its economy needs American jobs as an outlet for workers, but determined, able-bodied workers get siphoned out of Mexico.
More than 10 million Mexican-born people, or nearly one out of every 10, was living in the United States in 2005. And as a percentage of the work force it's even higher: One in seven, or 14 percent, were here, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The institute said 77 percent of Mexican workers in the U.S. were younger than 45, and 70 percent were men.
Villages devoid of men between 20 and 50 are common in many parts of the country. The stories of single mothers struggling to raise their children are just as frequent.
The women of Tecalpulco have come up with one way to cope. They run an artists' cooperative to sell traditional-style jewelry, including through the Internet. The page where they make their personal pleas, www.artcamp.com.mx/venga/, is a part of their Web site.
Paul, these are the fruits of my research so far. What do you think?
Have a good weekend. God bless you.
Faithfully,
[signed]
Thanks for giving this guy holy hell so that he if nothing else his conscience is pricked.
Agenda-driven leftists should be confronted with reality - their bubbles should be busted, and that is what you are doing. How else can they be stopped?
If we love them, we will do what you are doing.
Keep it up and thanks for sharing.
In my years here, I know that anything from Mrs. Don-o is always a good read.
Thanks for sharing your letter. There is good information there and I will steal it. :)
Something else that I haven’t actually thought through. Are we supposed to rebuild the Tower of Babel?
‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’
How can a border be wrong when God created it?