Thread: Fence Me In

Fence Me In
Tackling immigration.

An NRO Q&A



Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, is a longtime National Review and National Review Online contributor. He is this weekend the proud author of a new, important book The New Case Against Immigration: Both Legal and Illegal. He talks with NRO editor Kathryn Lopez first about the book, the election-year ahead, and more.

Kathryn Jean Lopez: The world — or at least all of the NBC-watching public – will have their eyes set on the Statue of Liberty this weekend. And you do this?

Why?

Mark Krikorian: It’s an arresting image designed to get people to click through the web ad or pick up the book at Borders. But it does also visually convey the point of the book — that the mass-immigration phase of our national life is over. FDR made just that point in 1936 in his speech on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Statute of Liberty: “Within this generation that stream from abroad has largely stopped. We have within our shores today the materials out of which we shall continue to build an even better home for liberty.â€

Mark's book should be mandatory reading for ALIPACERs.

Krikorian: It’s hard to compare Obama and McCain on immigration, since their positions are identical. But I think there would be differences in how their respective administrations addressed immigration. On the one hand, my sense is that McCain is much more emotionally committed to amnesty and would expend more political capital to try to push Congress to pass an immigration bill. He wants revenge on the Republican Party for having defied him last year; for McCain, amnesty’s not business any more — it’s personal. Obama, on the other hand, supports all the same policies, but just isn’t as invested in it. He’ll make a show of supporting amnesty, to placate Hispanic elites, but his heart isn’t in it in the same way and he has other, higher-priority goals.

This is why I will not support McCain. My main issue is no amnesty, and IMO mass amnesty would be easier to pass in a McCain adminstration than in an Obama administartion.

We're already seeing some usually strong anti-amnesty talk radio hosts (e.g. Roger Hedgecock) buy into Amnesty John's "secure the border first" rhetoric.

Once you let 19th century-style workers into a 21st century advanced society, taxpayers are guaranteed to bear the cost.

There you have it! In one sentence!!! The thrid worlder meets a highly educated, technological American citizenry and wham!!!...the third worlder gets showered in money through employment (essentially guaranteed), public assistance access, social programs, free education/health care because the elites and leaders (and activists/libidiots) tell the citizenry that it is what they must do. STOP THIS RIP OFF MADNESS. NO MORE!!!

among households headed by immigrants from Mexico, the largest group, fully half are on welfare

[quote]almost all of today’s skilled immigrants went to college here — in other words, American taxpayers have massively subsidized their education (as with subway fares and the like, tuition doesn’t come close to covering the cost of education). This subsidy, as Borjas says, is “sufficiently large to outweigh any of the productivity benefits that foreign students presumably impart on the nation.â€

[quote]“patriotic assimilationâ€

This book looks good. I like Mark. He's a thinking and has many good thoughts here. Maybe William could have him on his radio show.

the federal immigration program, established by Congress, is indeed a social engineering project

YES...YES...YES...THAT'S IT!!! Since Ted Kennedy in the 60's destroyed our skill based and much more balanced immigration system and replaced it with a family-unity third world outreach system, AMERICAN SOCIETY HAS BEEN FORCED TO UNDERGO A SOCIAL ENGINEERING PROJECT ON A MASSIVE SCALE AND OUR LEADERS/POLITICIANS AND OF COURSE, THE ELITISTS HAVE ALL PROMOTED AND ENSURED THAT IT CONTINUE!!!

I, on the other hand, think today’s American moms and dads should be the ones to decide how many Americans there will be tomorrow.

RIGHT ON!!!