Don't let the left set the context
This is a reply by Kevin Willis on my immigration opinion. It's so good that I wanted to put it out front.
By Kevin Willis
The goal of securing the borders is not to "keep them damn Mexicans" out. That's what the Democrats, who want a new chattel they can force to vote for them, want you to think.
Building a wall and increasing border patrols and ending "catch and release" is not, at this point in history, about keeping Mexicans, or any immigrants, out of America.
It's about keeping illegal immigrants out of America. About requiring a set of standards to be met and, hopefully, a degree of documentation to be kept on the folks who come in the country. I can't leave this country without a passport. And can't go work somewhere without a visa to do so. Not because other countries want to to keep me out, but because part of perserving a secure and stable society, and certainly any hope we have of inculcation and Americanization, comes from a set of processes made possible via legal immigration.
Not much hope for making them learn English when they have to hide from the authorities and are "protected" from "persecution" be Democrats who are also busy trying to pass laws so they can vote.
More to the point, you can make it a lot harder. Nobody is fighting or funding the fight against tighter border security more than the Mexican government, because they see illegal immigration as a solution to many of their regional problems (population, no state services, the need for cash) and as a means to an end (the general of goal of Mexico to "legally" reclaim California by becoming the majority population and infilitrating (or supporting sympathizers who do) various offices in the California state and municipal governments.
Part of legal immigration is to make them go through a process that may help to acculturate them. Another part of it is to legitimize them, to themselves and others, so they can be proud of themselves and their citizenship, to reflect on why they came here instead of staying where they were, on the opportunity afforded by America, and so on . . . while not ideal, legal immigrants have a better shot at acculturation than illegals.
And the hurdles to legal immigration are not all that high. Making it harder for folks to be hear illegally can also help acculturation, because it demonstrates that our the government and people of our country take American citizenship and security seriously.
Acculturation is not helped when, for all practical purposes, we do not seem to see ourselves as having a distinct and valuable American culture, because we let anybody come over and work illegally because we don't value our own border or our own laws. If we don't see any difference in Mexico and America--other than perhaps how much money one can make as a farm laborer--why should they look at it any differently?
By Kevin Willis
The goal of securing the borders is not to "keep them damn Mexicans" out. That's what the Democrats, who want a new chattel they can force to vote for them, want you to think.
Building a wall and increasing border patrols and ending "catch and release" is not, at this point in history, about keeping Mexicans, or any immigrants, out of America.
It's about keeping illegal immigrants out of America. About requiring a set of standards to be met and, hopefully, a degree of documentation to be kept on the folks who come in the country. I can't leave this country without a passport. And can't go work somewhere without a visa to do so. Not because other countries want to to keep me out, but because part of perserving a secure and stable society, and certainly any hope we have of inculcation and Americanization, comes from a set of processes made possible via legal immigration.
Not much hope for making them learn English when they have to hide from the authorities and are "protected" from "persecution" be Democrats who are also busy trying to pass laws so they can vote.
More to the point, you can make it a lot harder. Nobody is fighting or funding the fight against tighter border security more than the Mexican government, because they see illegal immigration as a solution to many of their regional problems (population, no state services, the need for cash) and as a means to an end (the general of goal of Mexico to "legally" reclaim California by becoming the majority population and infilitrating (or supporting sympathizers who do) various offices in the California state and municipal governments.
Part of legal immigration is to make them go through a process that may help to acculturate them. Another part of it is to legitimize them, to themselves and others, so they can be proud of themselves and their citizenship, to reflect on why they came here instead of staying where they were, on the opportunity afforded by America, and so on . . . while not ideal, legal immigrants have a better shot at acculturation than illegals.
And the hurdles to legal immigration are not all that high. Making it harder for folks to be hear illegally can also help acculturation, because it demonstrates that our the government and people of our country take American citizenship and security seriously.
Acculturation is not helped when, for all practical purposes, we do not seem to see ourselves as having a distinct and valuable American culture, because we let anybody come over and work illegally because we don't value our own border or our own laws. If we don't see any difference in Mexico and America--other than perhaps how much money one can make as a farm laborer--why should they look at it any differently?
posted by Walker at 2:18 PM
3 Comments:
Excellent. I just popped over to Kevin's blog too. Great stuff.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
This was really a secret plot by Jae to make me better check my comments for typos. Although I can always see them much better a day later. ;)
But I saw the one I made in that last one shortly after posting. So I removed and reposted. Sheesh. I blame my fingers.
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