Mac Donald offers thoughtful, honest analysis of illegal immigration
By spainishirish Posted in User Blogs — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Let me admit something at the outset: I love Heather Mac Donald. She is a tremendous writer and has a nimble, quick mind that has served the Manhattan Institute and those of us who read her well.
She has written what is the best point by point support of the enforcement-first position on illegal immigration to date. It can be unpleasant in spots, but it is serious and very honest. The last two paragraphs deserve particular attention:
"The proponents of amnesty have manufactured an artificial crisis. They say that it is imperative to legalize the millions of illegals here now, so that the illegals can "come out of the shadows." In reality, the minor inconveniences imposed by illegal status are nothing more than what the illegals bargained for. Illegal aliens have no legitimate claim to be legalized before the country makes sure that its border control is working. Enforcement must precede a liberalization of immigration rules--which is why "comprehensive" immigration reform (the conservative code word for amnesty and increased levels of immigration) is not the solution to our border crisis but rather a guarantee of continued anarchy. Amnesty and the impossibility of enforcing a complicated new immigration scheme will undermine border control, just as they did in 1986. The first item of business on the conservative agenda should be enforcing the law already on the books."
Yes, this a manufactured crisis on the part of amnesty proponents, and, yes, illegals who are "in the shadows" suffer only minor incoveniences now. Mac Donald is too measured to use the word "fraud" to describe Senate Bill 2611, but it is hard not to reach that conclusion.
Mac Donald's conclusion, while not politically correct on the surface, forces us to face some truly unpleasant truths:
"But the most important value that conservatives can bring to this debate is honesty. Many of the costs imposed by Mexican immigrants are a function of their lack of education, their low incomes, and their own and their children's behavior, not their legal status. Without question, we must balance those costs against the immigrant generation's admirable work ethic. But immigration reform that institutionalizes the present immigration mix--or, worse, increases its volume by three to five times--is certain to expand the Hispanic underclass. There are many educated foreigners patiently waiting for permission to migrate to the United States. The United States can better honor its immigrant heritage by accelerating their entry rather than by continuing to favor the most low-skilled of our neighboring populations."
Honesty is the most important quality either side can bring to this national debate. Those who advocate the Senate approach have played fast and loose with the truth, as unpleasant at it can be.
These two paragraphs seem to, and to some degree do, address different issues. Yet Mac Donald shows how they all are interconnected and why we must look at the total impact of illegal immigration.
Regardless of how you feel about illegal immigration, this is worth the read.
is where she describes what is happening in the second and third generations. Not the rapid ascent to the middle class of the commentariat's hazily-remembered immigrant grandfathers, but rather an assimilation to American underclass norms of academic non-achievement, teenage pregnancy, crime, welfare dependency, illegitimacy, and resentment.