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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: CONGRESS TACKLES LONG-RUN PROBLEM WITH SHORT-RUN SOLUTIONS WASHINGTON -- A quarter-century ago, in 1981, during a journalistic visit to parts of the American/Mexican border, I found myself talking with veteran border control official Robert Mitton at the San Ysidro "crossing" near San Diego. His revealing words came back to me dramatically this week, as immigration passions are unleashed across the country. "I remember 25 years ago," he reminisced with me then. "I would find a group of Mexicans marching through the desert toward the border. They would be carrying smoked carp in one pocket and a tequila bottle filled with water in the other. Violence was so repugnant to these 'rancheros' that, if somebody got into a fight, they would crouch down and lower their eyes. But they would always keep their word. We could only admire these people." And by 1981? He shook his head. "Now it is all reversed," he summed up. "Now more than 50 percent of the illegal aliens here come from a new hard-core unemployed in the barrios of Mexico City. They call them 'pachuchos.' And whether in the U.S. or in Mexico, the hard-core unemployed are people who move toward violence." Those two examples, I think, illustrate well the beginning of the problem that now finds at least 12 million illegals (and perhaps up to 20 million), the vast majority of them Mexicans, living in the civic shadows of the United States, the country that once pioneered civic transparency. Thus, last week the American Congress turned into a veritable quarreling Tower of Babel, as an immigration bill stumbled over a guest worker bill over a "let-us-have-a-national-breathing-spell" bill. But the details of these bills, while potentially important in the short run, seriously, perhaps fatally, ignore the long run. To acknowledge the long run, we must soberly analyze, and then act on, the carrying capacity of our rich, but hardly unlimited, land. Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), predicts that even with all of those bills, America will see a half-billion (yes, billion!) people in America by 2050 and a billion by the end of the century. This is 130 million more than currently projected by the Census Bureau. It will be largely due to a number projected by FAIR, Negative Population Growth and other reliable groups -- they project 40 million more people enabled to immigrate here because of family preference entitlements. At the same time, Stein and other analysts argue, the U.S. has made no preparations whatsoever to deal with such overwhelming numbers of people crowding into America. "We've got a transportation infrastructure designed by Eisenhower," Stein said. "There is no grand scheme, no secretary of immigration, nobody at the Cabinet level who has the responsibility for determining environmental impacts, no discussion on what kind of a future we want to have for our beleaguered nation. It's astounding to think what that means in terms of our quality of life. "But the Congress is just continuing its old patterns of passing irresponsible legislation," he said. "They're setting up the biggest demographic giveaway in the world." Meanwhile, with 85 percent of Americans supporting border security and immigration controls, essentially the three levels of the immigration debate remain frozen in a bitter struggle, espousing positions that range from outright greed to utopian idiocy and paranoid Mexican nationalism. On the American "let-them-all-come" side are the big corporations, who simply want cheap labor, while the American taxpayer picks up the welfare, education and health bills for that labor. But their primary argument -- that America needs working hands -- is dismissed as pure demagoguery by virtually every serious economist. One of the best analysts of economics, Robert J. Samuelson, wrote this week in The Washington Post that the big corporations are having America "import poverty" and lower wages so much that, of course, American workers "won't take those jobs." "What we have now," he wrote, "and would with guest workers, is a conscious policy of creating poverty in the United States while relieving it in Mexico. ... To be sure, some Americans get cheap housecleaning ... But if more mowed their own lawns or did their own laundry, it wouldn't be a tragedy." On the "bring-'em-on" side, both the utopian religious people and the Mexican nationalists tend to stand together. This week in Los Angeles -- incredibly -- the elected Hispanic-American mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa -- a man sworn to uphold the laws of his country -- shouted at a pro-illegal immigration rally of hundreds of thousands: "There are no illegal immigrants!" Meanwhile, in Mexico City, the Mexican government stated that the exercise of U.S. sovereignty at the border must be a co-responsibility with Mexico -- i.e., Mexico, which has done little to develop its country, demands the right to oversee American laws and practices. This, even though a recent Pew research poll showed that upward of 70 percent of Mexicans do not like Americans or have a favorable impression of them. What an incredible picture: the world's supposed "superpower" at the disposal of a failing state such as Mexico and thousands of its citizens who don't even like us, yet are telling us we have the responsibility to provide their livelihood, health, schooling and welfare. The situation has become so complex that I doubt it can begin to be solved by this week's Tower of Babel. Nor will we ever go back to that picture of the poor, honest Mexican ranchero of 1956, struggling across the desert with his dried fish. We must control the border first -- which CAN be done -- and then start a serious national conversation about the real meaning of immigration and citizenship.
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The illegals aren't being put on a "fast track" to become Americans by Congress- --we're being put on a "fast track" to become Mexicans.
Our ancestors fought and died for their liberties and ours. If we are worthy of them, we must be prepared to do likewise.
BTW, Ms. Geyer is a favorite of mine---Bush and Israel critic, expert on Latin America as well as having expertise on the Middle East and the former Soviet Bloc, mistress of graceful and insightful prose. Sort of a more mature and better informed Peggy Noonan.
Our ancestors fought and died for their liberties and ours. If we are worthy of them, we must be prepared to do likewise.
OMG.. I'm sure you saw the protests.. it was just frightening really.. all carrying Mexican flags.. which of course means that they're not here to become Americans but to invade and take California.. We have been so betrayed by our own govenment.. California is gone..
So many of them were simply released from LAUSD schools---even bussed to the protest sites! Word from LA County Sheriff Lee Baca this evening is, "Mission accomplished--- amnesty bill passed---get back to school."
Our ancestors fought and died for their liberties and ours. If we are worthy of them, we must be prepared to do likewise.
This is sad to me really.. so much of CA is so or was so beautiful.. had some great experiences there.. and was really looking forward to others. Now it's becoming Tijuana 2..
Estoy en mi tierra natal---"I am in my homeland": that was on sign after sign at the rallies.
Our ancestors fought and died for their liberties and ours. If we are worthy of them, we must be prepared to do likewise.
OMG.. sigh.. how terribly sad really.. I'm past being angry honestly.. its a losing battle and has been..
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