INVASION USA Zogby poll: Americans fed up on illegal aliens

A new opinion poll by Zogby International indicates Americans are hardly pleased with the Bush administration on the subject of illegal immigration.

The poll, cited on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" program yesterday, noted a huge majority – 81 percent – believes local and state police should help federal authorities enforce laws against illegal immigration. Only 14 percent disagreed.

Voters were also asked, "Do you support or oppose the Bush administration's proposal to give millions of illegal aliens guest worker status and the opportunity to become citizens?" Only 35 percent gave their support, and 56 percent said no.

"A majority opposed illegal immigration," pollster John Zogby told CNN. "In fact, when you combine those two terms, 'illegal and immigration,' it really conjures up a considerable amount of negatives. And, in fact, we find that it's really across the board."

According to the report, the greatest opponents of illegal immigration are Democrats, African-Americans, women and people with household income below $75,000, those with the most to lose in the job market.

When it came to the status of the nation's borders, respondents were asked, "Do you agree or disagree that the federal government should deploy troops on the Mexican border as a temporary measure to control illegal immigration?" A clear majority – 53 percent – agree, while 40 percent disagree.

"The Minuteman program highlighted the fact that we need more tighter border security," Phil Kent of American Immigration Control Foundation told the network. "So I think these numbers again are good. It's a good civics lesson for the American people. It shows our elected leaders that we want action."

In summing up her report, CNN correspondent Lisa Sylvester noted, "So, while the public wants tougher borders, politicians are pushing to leave them open. A real disconnect."

Dobbs responded to that statement, saying: "The disconnect that you referred to, Lisa, between our elected officials and the people of this country is in no – on no other issue any more dramatic than on the issue of illegal immigration. The Zogby poll is just simply the most recent in a string of polls that show that the American people want their borders secure, they want immigration laws to be enforced, and to clean up what has become an atrocious mess on the part of our elected representatives serving better the interests of U.S. multinationals than the people who are working for a living in this country."

Within a week of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the U.S., Zogby polled Americans on border security and immigration issues.

When asked whether the government was doing enough to control the border and screen those allowed into the country, 76 percent said the government was not doing enough.

Regarding future threats to the U.S., 72 percent of likely voters in 2001 said a dramatic increase in resources devoted to border control and enforcement of immigration laws would help reduce the chances of a terrorist attack in the future.

The first time I saw Natalie (not her real name but everyone said she looked like a young Natalie Woods) was at a crawfish boil at Bimbos. Natalie was thumbing meat out of the tails for etouffee with her right hand while sucking heads out of her left hand.

She looked up at me with the sweetest, most innocent smile ever seen at Bimbos and said “Hi!” It seems she had just moved out of her parents’ home on the Trinity River and come to Houston to live with her older sister and brother-in-law.

All Natalie had ever known was the river community. The river folk live on land owned by the Trinity River Authority and make a living supplying yellow cats to the restaurants and fish markets in East Texas. Some people say they build their houses out of wood they find floating down the river, but Natalie said her father traded fish to Oggletree’s saw mill for surplus building materials.

Natalie was in hog heaven living in Houston. For a girl reared on black beans, rice and backstrap, even a Big Mac was a special experience.

It didn’t take long for Natalie to hook up with Lance (not his real name), a journeyman electrician who had recently moved to Houston from Michigan. Like most Michigan-Americans he was superb at explaining to us how we did everything wrong in Texas. Especially irksome to him were our laws that permitted nonunion electricians to work on public buildings such as hotels and shopping malls.

Lance was a man of principles, foremost of which was that he would not unlock his tool box for less than prevailing union wage. After the federally related project for which he had moved down here ended, Lance didn’t unlock his toolbox very often. Natalie’s jobs at Children’s World and Wal-Mart made the payments on his mobile home and pickup truck, but not much more.

Under pressure from Natalie’s sister and some regulars at Bimbos, Lance finally agreed to consider jobs for a little less than union wage. But after awhile, instead of taking jobs he simply started complaining that there weren’t any decent jobs because the Mexicans took them all. He quickly learned all the code phrases such as crowded emergency rooms, lowering educational levels, disease, crime, welfare, cultural dilution, invasion, and most righteously, “illegal.”

He could have accepted a steady job with an electrical service company at which a friend of works, but he told owner that he wasn’t going to work for $18 an hour “changing light bulbs at used car lots.” He told Natalie he didn’t get the job because he didn’t speak Spanish.

Instead he talked Natalie into getting a higher paying job at one of the topless clubs outside the city limits that will hire 17 year olds to dance. Lance always appeared remorseful about Natalie having to do what she did, but he was adamant that it wasn’t his fault, it was the fault of the government for letting in all those Mexicans who took all the jobs.

Natalie doesn’t smile anymore. Her sister says Natalie still defends Lance to friends even though she knows that Mexicans aren’t the real reason Lance won’t get a job.

There are many Natalies in America today. Some are young children whose dead-beat fathers are a year behind in child support “because the Mexicans got all the jobs.” Some are parents whose grown sons have moved back home because “ the Mexicans got all the good jobs.”
Some are young men and women who are discouraged from attending technical schools or applying for entry level jobs because they have heard that only Mexicans are being hired.

But ironically, probably the biggest victims are those who are wasting their lives away complaining about Mexicans instead of getting jobs and building normal lives.

I've already explained my theory on Bush's illegal immigration stance:

1) The CIA has warned the Administration that the Mexican government is in dire danger of being overthrown by a Hugo Chavez-inspired Communist insurgency.

2) Vicente Fox has insisted that without the "safety valve" of illegal immigration, unemployable Mexicans will throw their support to the Communists.

3) A Communist government in Mexico, allied with Chavez and backed by the drug cartels, would immediately become Al Qaeda's second home. Terrorists would be free to cross the border with even less restrictions than they have now, and also likely get free weapons and ammunition from the Mexican government.

4) By allowing virtually unrestricted immigration, Fox and Bush hope that potential revolutionaries will go to America, see the capitalist system in action, and be innoculated against Marxist lunacy.

5) Bush dares not breathe a word of this to the American public, who would rightfully wonder why they are expected to give up their jobs and cities to Third World trash just so Vicente Fox and his ilk can keep their palaces. Thus, we hear the silly excuses that the Administration is making.

6) The CIA evidently fears that a serious effort to close the border would lead directly to a revolution in Mexico. Therefore, Bush will never offer more than half-hearted support for any enforcement measures, and will act just as he has been - as if he is hoping the whole issue will just go away.

That's very nicely written. I mean that. It could be the outline for a great novel.

The economics of this issue for workers are as simple as simple as supply and demand. Other things being equal, if the supply of workers is increased, the market price (wages) for workers will fall. Millions of illegal aliens cannot just be dumped into a labor market without depressing wages.

There are people who benefit from illegal immigration. Obviously, the employers who illegally hire them benefit because their costs are reduced. And, all of us as consumers benefit to some extent from those lower costs.

But American workers and taxpayers (particularly local taxpayers) are taking a bath. We just can't expect them to be happy about that. ;-)

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and repel Invasions;"

and shall protect each of them against Invasion;"