I am beginning to think the Republican posturing with regards to immigration is looking a lot like how out of touch they were on the Terri Schiavo case, but with much more important short and long term implications.
There are some Republicans who honestly care about border security and see both the northern and southern entrances to our country as a legitimate homeland security concern. But sadly, I think those voices are in a significant minority. As this debate has gone on, it is becoming clear - sadly - that so much of this discussion is out of racial hate. They, quite simply, either hate or fear an increase in any sort of the Hispanic population in our country.
Michelle Malkin: “[T]he vast majority of mainstream Hispanic politicians” believe that “the American Southwest belongs to Mexico”
Michael Savage: “Burn the Mexican Flag!”
Chris Matthews: Republicans “have a right to fear” seeing a “majority Latino population”
This kind of talk isn’t just “opinion”. It is not acceptable discourse when speaking about any race of people - white, black, hispanic, asian, whatever. It isn’t mushy-headed “you’re being insensitive” speech. It’s out and out race-baiting.
But I’ve also been wondering - what is the real opinion on this issue. The right has been citing polls where people say that they’re clearly against illegal immigration to support their position, but that doesn’t make sense to me. I think most people don’t support illegal immigration - I sure as heck don’t. But I also don’t support building a giant fence (people will just knock holes in it as they currently do), a more aggresive border patrol (at our current budget deficit, there’s no money for it and there are higher priorities than assuaging the xenophobia of Tom Tancredo), nor do I support amnesty (I think that’s unfair to those who are trying to immigrate legally). Frankly, I support the status quo. In the course of usual border business, if you catch someone that’s illegal, send them back. The current hysteria bares all the hallmarks of manufactured crisis and political grandstanding.
So what does some more insightful polling say?
Americans polled by TIME magazine show strong support for a guest-worker program and a process for undocumented workers to become citizens, but they take a tough stance on securing the borders. And most do not want illegal immigrants to have access to health care, public education or driver’s licenses.
In the telephone survey of 1004 adults, conducted Wednesday and Thursday, 79% say they favor a guest worker program that would allow illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. for a fixed period of time the main provision of the bill proposed by Senators John McCain and Edward Kennedy that is now under fierce debate in Congress. Only 47% of those polled say they support the tougher measure backed by some House conservatives, deporting all illegal immigrants back to their home countries.
My status quo position is not in the mainstream, but neither is the Oh My God We Have To Close America Because The Brown People Are Coming position of the Republican base. Strangely enough, President Bush’s policy position is relatively pragmatic and in the majority - not coincidentally he has done better among Hispanics than his party has in the past.
The GOP is in the majority, and the base does not realize how unpopular so many of their positions are. They want their due in Washington, and are frustated when DC won’t act. Many of the Republican politicians get that remaining in power requires balance between the extremist base and independents and Democrats, but the base doesn’t get it. They don’t get why it isn’t politically feasable to talk about abortion like they do in South Dakota or to engage in horribly racist alarmism about America’s increasing Hispanic population. They don’t get it.
While Democrats haven’t been very loud about it, I think a policy of limited amnesty and increased border security is in the mainstream and if Bush hadn’t been so focused for 5+ years intimating that Al Qaeda = DNC, he’d have some more bipartisan support on the issue. I don’t see how the GOP is going to be able to pander to its xenophobic roots and maintain the gains Bush made in the Hispanic vote. It’s clear the base is tired of biting its tongue and is ready to tell the party elders to make a choice. Can the pragmatic Republicans educate their party?
In many ways, I hope they can. While the Republican party alienating Hispanics may be good for Democrats electorally, it simply is not good for America. We cannot have one of our two major parties embrace this kind of rhetoric against another race, it is not healthy for our nation. I want the Hispanic vote to continue to be Democratic (as do I for every other racial group and mix of races), but not because the Republicans have adopted a new version of the Southern Strategy. It’ll tear us apart seriously in the long run.
http://www.mexica-movement.org/granmarcha.htm
Taken a real close look at the photos and captions. My favorites are the ones describing what a mistake it was to hand out American flags to try to make it look like they support america, and the one where they wonder why so many politicians have “germanic names, and they should be the first to be deported”….
Yea Ollie, just a bunch of poor immigrants trying to make a living for their families, nothing to see here, just half a million immigrants being egged on by another set of racist demagogues….
You are on the wrong side of this one again….and before you knuckled under to the leftist, you actually had it right.
And of course, all Mexicans support this group, what a maroon.
how many supporters would worry you? there were 500 thousand there
Where is all the leftist anger and rhetoric against those racists? If it were a bunch of white supremacists, what would the headlines be..
F’ing hypocrite…..
Oliver - I too support the President’s pragmatic approach to the issue. I cannot support the Michael Savage / Michelle Malkin position on this matter. Like you, I’m probably represent the middle ground - guest worker with a timeline towards earning citizenship and locking down the border to prevent true security threats.
By the way, are you suggesting that the Dems actually support the President’s policy position, but are unwilling to act because of their hatred for Bush? Has BDS struck your entire party?
What a principled stance!
Regards,
St Wendeler from Another Rovian Conspiracy
You’re right on the money Oliver… let’s be sensible shall we? Immigration is actually one thing the U.S. does right! And one thing Bush is moderate on, for good reason (probably economic, and trying not to shrink that Republican tent).
I’m sure you’re used to tuning out the noise, i.e. the above comments.
As for me, looking at those protesters — ha ha. Right on. They’re pissed off and rightfully so. I particularly like the signs about how they’re indigenous and the Europeans have been here illegally since 1492. All hyperbole of course, but what to you expect when you threaten to deport them all? The economy of border states would collapse, and it would be a nasty wrong turn for America.
[...] s: Republicans have a right to fear seeing a majority Latino population more @ http://www.oliverwillis.com/2006/04/01/gop-out-of-touch-again/ Pos [...]
but are unwilling to act because of their hatred for Bush
The president has been governing for over six years as if only one constituency in America mattered: Republicans. Now that he’s in trouble with Republicans, why the heck should Democrats come to the political aid of someone who has worked so hard to denigrate us?
“To the victor, belong the spoils.”
All Presidents govern as if only one constituency in America mattered: their own. The only time they do anything for the people who didn’t vote for them, is when they want them to vote for them. Look at how well the Christian Coalition made out under Clinton.
why the heck should Democrats come to the political aid of someone who has worked so hard to denigrate us?
Ahh, yes… a true sign of statesmanship… It shouldn’t be about “political aid” but what is right for the country.
Is it the right policy? You yourself answered that in the affirmative. So, why the reluctance? I’m sure that millions of Hispanics will understand that the Dems won’t champion the guest worker program simply b/c they don’t want to give the President any credit at all for his position on the issue.
One thing is for certain, as the Hispanic population in our country booms, so will the birthrate. This at a time when the world has reached or will very quickly reach peak oil production. Where are we going to get the resources to accomodate all those looking for the American dream of waste and excess while maintaining our own appetite to excessively waste? This whole topic makes me nervous.
It makes me more than nervous…
Look what happened to me, because I didn’t think we should just jettison the naturalization process
http://tinyurl.com/n5tvs
So fact, how many mexican racists would scare you? Where were the lefties screaming about the mexican racists?
Your silence speaks volumes…
I followed Frank’s link, and it seems to me that the question isn’t that whites are worried that they’d become a minority. Rather, the problem is one of assimilation: the perception (whether it is real or not doesn’t matter; the perception exists) is that a lot of the Mexican immigrants are not really interested in assimilation.
In my industry (ready-mixed concrete), I am continually hearing complaints from my drivers about crews who are reasonably good at their jobs but where only one man on the crew speaks English; this frequently makes the driver’s job more difficult. At least in my experience, if the Hispanic immigrants were making more of an effort to learn and use English, the animus against them would lessen significantly.
One additional comment: I do not believe that we would ever take the measures that I have suggested would need to be taken to end illegal immigration. The simple fact is that we have illegal immigration because we want illegal immigration, for the economic benefits it provides, and that while we might vote, once every couple of years, for somebody who promises to do something to end illegal immigration, we vote for such immigration every day, with our economic choices.
Illegal immigrants come to the United States for one reason: we pay them to come here.
The GOP is in a conundrum about illegal immigration, because it pulls the party in both directions: on economics, the party is pulled toward supporting illegal immigration, as it results in lower cost products, but there is a natural revulsion amongst Republicans that the illegals are getting away with breaking the law. As one of the other writers on my site has put it, any program which rewards illegal immigrants with amnesty has rewarded lawbreaking over those who obeyed the law.
To pimp my own site, I have a fairly long article on just what it would take to end illegal immigration through law enforcement; the point that I make is that it would have to attack the demand side of the problem.
Let’s just treat Mexican “immigrants” the way Mexico treats theirs -
In brief, the Mexican Constitution states that:
” Immigrants and foreign visitors are banned from public political discourse.
” Immigrants and foreigners are denied certain basic property rights.
” Immigrants are denied equal employment rights.
” Immigrants and naturalized citizens will never be treated as real Mexican citizens.
” Immigrants and naturalized citizens are not to be trusted in public service.
” Immigrants and naturalized citizens may never become members of the clergy.
” Private citizens may make citizens arrests of lawbreakers (i.e., illegal immigrants)
and hand them to the authorities.
” Immigrants may be expelled from Mexico for any reason and without due process.
Great post randy….
will fall on deaf ears here though…
Ms. Malkin said “ [T]he vast majority of mainstream Hispanic politicians believe that the American Southwest belongs to Mexico .
I have heard this from other directions too. I have also heard it said in several places (sorry, no links handy) that Mexicans believe they have a right to enter the US unfettered. I raise these points because if they are true, we are looking at a different set of problems and questions.
Whichever side of the debate one stands on, we have to keep the truth in sight. Even if we don’t like it.
Does anyone know how accurate these are? Let us know. Keep us on track.
And, the same with Randy’s post. Is this an accurate take of the Mexican constitution? Truth is important.
“Let s just treat Mexican immigrants the way Mexico treats theirs -”
I thought you cons were sticklers for not using foreign laws as precedents for our own laws? Why the inconsistency?