Immigration: The forgotten topic

Posted: August 01, 2009
1:00 am Eastern
© 2009

As Barack Obama turns America upside down, the subject of illegal immigration has almost become an afterthought.

Sure, the economic calamity heightened by his leadership
has probably slowed the rate of illegal entry into the country. But there are plans in Congress to provide amnesty for tens of millions already here – adding to the illegal, ACORN-stacked voter rolls for the elections of 2010 and 2012.

Get "Taking America Back," Joseph Farah's manifesto for moral renewal, sovereignty and self-reliance.

I was reminded about this budding crisis by a press release that crossed my desk this week: "HOUSTON – (July 28, 2009) – A new study released by Rice University in Houston finds that California newspapers located closer to the border of Mexico routinely provide a more negative slant on immigration in general news reporting and on their opinion pages than the state's newspapers located further away from the border.

"The study, 'Slanted Newspaper Coverage of Immigration: The Importance of Economics and Geography,' was conducted by Rice University political scientist Regina Branton and Johanna Dunaway of Louisiana State University and published in the Policy Studies Journal."

The study – government funded, no doubt – used content analysis, geographic information systems and contextual data found in 1,227 California newspaper news articles and opinion pieces from 2004-05.

"'We found that newspapers located closer to the Mexican border often report the more negative side of the immigration issue,' Branton said. 'Moreover, we found corporate-owned newspapers are more likely to report a negative slant to the issue than privately owned newspapers.'"

Land sakes! Did it ever occur to these out-of-touch academics that, perhaps, people closer to the border actually experience more problems associated with illegal immigration than those who don't?

The answer is no.

Branton explained the reason for the difference is that newspapers are trying to please their audience – the readers – and thus maximize profits.

"While all news organizations are driven somewhat by the need to make profits, a public group of shareholders seeks to maximize profits and considers that the main goal," she said. "It’s been well-documented that the media report heavily on sex, violence and crime to appeal to readers. The immigration issue is an emotional national issue that newspapers can sensationalize and provide influence on."

People are getting decapitated in drug wars raging on both sides of the Mexican border. There's an epidemic of rape and murder. Americans are getting slaughtered on the highways by illegal alien drivers. Hospitals are overcrowded, taxing our health-care system. Schools are forced to take on the burden of teaching children whose parents do not pay the property taxes necessary to support them. And nobody can claim any more that America needs foreign workers with unemployment hovering around 10 percent.

But, there are still people who insist the negative impact of illegal immigration is OVER-REPORTED!

Illegal immigration is not a problem because newspapers over-report it. They under-report it.

Illegal immigration is a self-evident problem – especially to those who experience its effects on a daily basis, up close and personal. Almost all of us do – whether we live near the border or not.

I swear I must be living in some kind of parallel universe where up is down, black is white and right is wrong. There's no other explanation. America is cracking up – falling apart at the seams. And still we have cultural institutions insisting that if only we all bend over backward just a little bit more, take it in the shorts, keep out mouths shut, let the all-knowing elite make decisions for us and quit complaining, the world would somehow be a better place.

I don't know about you, but I'm not going to take it any more. I'm not going to sit back and watch America be destroyed. This is not a game.

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