http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_4222740

Immigration concerns not racist

Conor Friedersdorf, Columnist
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

(Editor's note: This is a twice-weekly column written Conor Friedersdorf, who is managing the Daily Bulletin's blog, or special Web site, on immigration issues. The blog is designed to provide a forum for opinions and information on immigration. The blog is at www.beyondbordersblog.com.)
Houston is fed up with newcomers.

Overcrowding, crime and undesirable cultural changes are everywhere, and some residents are complaining. Welfare rolls are swollen, and the homicide rate is up 18 percent.

"Houston is full," Mayor Bill White declared months ago, expressing sentiments common to many longtime Houston residents.

All this rhetoric is common enough in the United States these days, as illegal immigrants spread out through the country into communities traditionally untouched immigration. But Houston's residents aren't complaining about undocumented Latinos or Asians.

Rather, their ire is directed at as many as 150,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees who remain in Houston after fleeing there during the disaster.

Surveys suggest more than half are unemployed and receiving welfare. Thirty thousand live in government housing. "This year through Aug. 14, there have been 252 homicides in Houston, including 56 that involved Katrina evacuees," the Los Angeles Times reported. "At the same point last year, there had been 194 homicides."

That Houston residents are upset the presence of evacuees is understandable. It also tells us something about the immigration debate in this country.

Every time a city's residents get fed up with illegal immigration and the changes it brings, immigrant advocates suggest that those who favor a crackdown are motivated racism or nativism. But the great migration to Houston is made up of American citizens who happen to share the racial identity of a substantial percentage of the city's residents.

The fact that they're feeling the ire of locals demonstrates that most people are resistant to changes in their hometown regardless of who is bringing them about. This is particularly true when the changes are higher crime rates, more crowded schools and hospitals, and more people on the dole.

Likewise, the fact that most illegal immigrants in the United States are Latino has very little to do with calls for a crackdown on being here without permission.

Any group of illegal immigrants, no matter their race or country of origin, would attract roughly the same ire if the effects of their presence were the same.

It's not about an aversion to a certain race of people. It's about an aversion to change, particularly change for the worse.

And change for the worse seems inevitable when a population grows too fast, whether through immigration, an influx of refugees or even a high birth rate.

Eventually freeway lanes, emergency rooms and classroom space can be built to accommodate newcomers, particularly since the economic effect of their presence is often a net plus.

But it takes time to put infrastructure in place.

An orderly system of legal immigration limits the influx of newcomers to a manageable flow so that changes don't overwhelm existing residents and turn them against any newcomers.

A disorderly system of large-scale illegal immigration almost ensures the opposite outcome.

Beyond Borders Blog is again asking readers to share the story of how your family came to the United States. Whether your ancestors came here on the Mayflower or you hopped a flight from La Paz last month, e-mail conor.friedersdorf I'll be publishing most if not all contributions at www.beyondbordersblog.com.