Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

May 25, 2007

Anger Against Amesty Bill is NOT Racism

Michael Gerson, writing for the Washington Post today, claims that conservatives who oppose the "comprehensive" immigration reform bill that is now before Congress are, for all intents and purposes, racists.

But the real passion in this debate is not political, it is cultural -- a fear that American identity is being diluted by Latino migration. Tancredo is the lowbrow expression of this fear. Professor Samuel Huntington of Harvard University, whom Tancredo calls an intellectual mentor, presents the highbrow version. Huntington argues that Mexican migration is a threat to American unity and to the "core" of our cultural identity. "America," he says, "was created as a Protestant society just as and for some of the same reasons Pakistan and Israel were created as Muslim and Jewish societies in the 20th century."

There definitely are some groups who are white supremacists, and therefore don't want immigration from groups who don't fit into that mold. Racists are everywhere, but they are not restricted to the Republican party. And the claim that a majority of Republicans feel this way is slanderous.

What Gerson and many amnesty proponents either genuinely fail to realize or deliberately fail to admit is that the outcry in this nation is not about where these immigrants come from, but that they have entered this country illegally. That the majority of them come from Mexico or other Spanish-speaking countries south of the border is simply a coincidence based on geography. Those of us who are angry about illegal aliens are just as angry at those who come from Mexico as those who come from Ireland or elsewhere. Playing the race card is a cheap propaganda tool that is used to shut down debate. After all, who wants to be branded as a racist?

Illegal aliens have not only shown disregard for our laws, but expect to be rewarded for doing so. This bill would do just that -- reward lawbreakers while others who have applied for citizenship the proper way must sit back and watch while linejumpers reap rewards that legal applicants have waited years and paid plenty of money for. As it is, illegal aliens are already receiving freebies that American citizens (and other legal residents) must pay for.

Aaron of Lifelike Pundits puts it quite succinctly:

These illegal immigrants or undocumented workers (or, better yet, trespassers) send their children to schools that my tax dollars pay for – and I have no children. I pay my taxes to the government to educate American citizens, not children of people who decided that they were above our laws.

Millions of people who wait years to do this legally do so because they recognize that it is a privilege to be an American.

Like a home, it is the prerogative of America to decide whom she will invite to come in and be a part of the family. If we would rather have more skilled than unskilled workers come here, what's wrong with that? Why should our Social Security and Medicare system (already overburdened) be strained to the breaking point with people who not only have put nothing into it thus far, but if made legal, would put little in before subscribing for benefits? And regardless of the skill level of those invited, the fact that some don't wait for an invitation but demand entry shows how much regard they have for our "nation of laws," as President Bush put it.

The threat of terrorism is yet another issue. If it's easy for Mexicans and others to slip across the border in search of work, it's just as easy for terrorists (Islamists, etc.) to cross the border. Indeed, three of the "Fort Dix Six" were in the country illegally. Who knows how many others have made their way in via the porous sections of our southern border? Why is that not a concern?

There is a problem, egged on by the multiculturalism movement, with some immigrant groups being less eager to embrace American culture and become one with it, preferring instead to create communities that are more like the country they came from. If they prefer the comforts of home, then why did they leave? The American dream is not just a piggy bank waiting to be raided. It's all-encompassing. To be proud of one's heritage is one thing. To completely re-create life the way it was before coming to our shores is quite another.

Yet this is a separate issue from the anger over the amnesty bill. Claiming that conservatives oppose it because they are racists obscures the real question: that of the law and the rights of the citizens who will bear the cost of this mass "pass Go, collect $200" scheme.

Our Congress and president are showing little regard for the citizens who voted for them and pay their salaries. This amnesty bill is a slap in our collective face, and shows us that for both parties, garnering a potential voting bloc is more important than safety and economic concerns. And it's not appreciated.