Immigration

There have been alot of scathing rhetoric flying around about immigration with the new bills in Congress. I myself have been quite ambivalent on the issue, on one hand we need to secure our borders and enforce our nations laws, on the other immigration is a cornerstone of this country and it seems wrong to say you can't come here if you are willing to work hard.

The arguements against amnesty make an intellecutal sense -we should not reward illegal behavior and Mexican illegals should not get a free ride simply because they are our nearest neighbor-but they lack emotional sense. Some of the suggestions to stem illegal immigration, criminalizing aid to illegals, such as prenatal care, will be the death of any enforcement bill. I can not think of a single Christian I know who would not defy that law if an illegal with a genuine need were put in their orbit. Aid them then call INS, sure, but not deny aid.

So I read some more and thought some more and then ran across two pieces of information that made me come down against amnesty. First, was in John Hawkins FAQ about illegal immigrants:

11) Is there a crime problem related to illegal immigrants? Absolutely, and in areas where illegals congregate heavily, crimewaves tend to follow. For example, illegals are responsible for much of the serious crime in Los Angeles. Here's Heather Mac Donald on that topic from back in mid-2004:

In Los Angeles, 95% of all outstanding warrants for homicide target illegal aliens, and over 60% of all outstanding felony warrants. Illegal aliens, and immigrants generally, are a major, and unacknowledged, driver of gang crime.

Moreover, according to Jim Kouri, the vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police:

"It's widely been reported that illegal aliens comprise upwards of 27 percent of the US prison and jail population."

Make no mistake about it: illegal aliens are responsible for a very significant percentage of the rape, murder, robbery, and mayhem that occurs in the United States.

That is a stunning figure. The second is an op-ed piece in the Richmond Times-Dispatch which quotes an email from La Raza the self styled, largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

The e-mail refers to congressional legislation that would, among other things, (a) provide grants to immigrants taking English classes, (b) permit those who gain English proficiency to apply for citizenship one year early, and (c) provide grants to groups offering instruction in U.S. civics and American history. These ideas hardly seem provocative; learning English and American civics used to be something immigrants did enthusiastically.

The e-mail about the bill, however, warns that "while it doesn't overtly mention assimilation, it is very strong on the patriotism and traditional American values language in a way which is potentially dangerous to our communities."

La Raza should explain why patriotism and American values might be dangerous to people coming to America presumably to partake of America's blessings. And protesters bearing the flags of other nations in demonstrations demanding their right to stay here should explain why -- if their former country is so wonderful -- they ever left.

This op-ed is also clever enough to make the distinction between Saint Paddy's day flag waving and the sort that went on at the rallies this last week.

This might be worth no more notice or con- cern than the kilts and bagpipes in St. Patrick's Day parades, were it not for the qualitative difference involved. Modern American St. Patrick's Day celebrations have as much to do with Irish nationalism as the Easter Bunny has to do with the resurrection. What's more, the participants are not -- unlike recent immigrant rallies hotly demanding special dispensation to break U.S. laws.

Now, I have been known to attend in the local Highland Games and I can tell you that nothing rouses the sentiment of the auld country than the authentic Scottish gyros sandwiches they sell there. One thing you also find is what Island Passage calls "full throated love of country".