Immigrants need to get some respect
By Gary Jason, Columnist
Article Last Updated: 02/23/2008 08:39:06 PM PST


IT is now clear that John McCain will be the Republican nominee for president. The improbable resurrection of his candidacy - overcoming major leads by his opponents in the polls and in fundraising - occurred in the face of a relentless barrage of accusations by them that he was soft on illegal immigration. But the greater the anti-immigration posturing of his opponents, the lower they dropped in the polls.

All of which suggests that the electorate is nowhere near as anti-immigration as the candidates had thought. And contrary to conventional wisdom, the future of the GOP may lie in being more open - and not vociferously opposed - to immigration.

The main reason that the populist, anti-rhetoric rhetoric once seemed so powerful was its prevalence on talk radio. For two years now, the major players in that medium have been waxing furious over illegal immigration and have savaged McCain ceaselessly for his attempt last year to pass comprehensive immigration reform. The radio-talk warriors roused a large part of the Republican base to action, defeating the bill.

This seems to have persuaded the Republican candidates that being "more nativist than thou" was an easy road to the nomination. Now that the man derided by the talk show luminaries as pro-amnesty is going to get the nomination, they are apoplectic, and their angry listeners are puzzled.

They shouldn't be.

There are a number of reasons why the anti-immigrant rhetoric has
proven to be a loser. First, it took on a nasty nativist tone, on talk radio especially.
For example, one host played a parody song, "Jose, Can You See?", which clearly mocked Latino immigrants. Other hosts trumpeted cases in which illegal aliens committed heinous crimes - which happen, to be sure, but much less often than cases in which home-born citizens commit the same crimes.

This tone clearly angered many Latinos, which may be why in Florida, Cuban-Americans voted for McCain five to one. I daresay the vast majority of Hispanic Americans oppose illegal immigration - as do I. But the tone rapidly began to sound generally anti-Hispanic.

Indeed, the poll numbers indicate that the Republican Party as a whole has taken a major hit in Latino support. In the last year and a half, polls show that the gap between Hispanics who identify with the Democrats and those who identify with the Republicans has increased from 13 percent to 34 percent, a massive increase.

Many non-Hispanics were also put off by the nativist sounds served up on talk radio. Many of us with Central, Eastern or Southern European forebears remember that the same intemperate accusations made against these new immigrants - that they steal our jobs, won't speak our language, have too many kids, refuse to assimilate, are innately predisposed to criminal behavior, and don't value education - were made against our folk. Even though those earlier immigrants came here perfectly legally, they were despised nonetheless, and in 1925 banned altogether.

Besides galvanizing Latinos and many other people who remember with pride their immigrant ancestors, the strident anti-immigrant tone also angered many business owners. Listening to people demand that the government imprison you if you employ any illegal immigrants is off-putting, especially if it is you (and not, say, the multimillionaire talk-show celebrities) who face lawsuits from that very same government if you discriminate against Latinos.

Yet another reason why the immigrant-bashing didn't sell is the awareness that immigration is still necessary in the face of the most enormous demographic challenge this country has ever faced. The first baby boomers turned 62 this year, making them now eligible for early retirement. The boomers are a massive slice of the population - some 28 percent - and the country faces labor shortages when they retire. Absent some reasonable amount of immigration, suitably regulated and controlled, the economy will surely suffer.

Ironically, many of the talk-show illuminati cite President Reagan as their greatest role model. But those of us who admired and voted for Reagan remember that he was proud of his immigrant roots, and always spoke highly of immigrants in his speeches.

Now that everyone knows that the immigrant-bashing commentariat is not omnipotent, perhaps the majority of citizens can now get on with the serious business of securing our border, while at the same time allowing a reasonable number of people to legally assimilate.

In this regard, McCain has promised to seal the border before turning to fix the broken immigration system. Whether he will ever get the chance to do what no president since Eisenhower has done (including Reagan, who amnestied all the undocumented in the country) - that is - control the border while allowing reasonable immigration, remains dicey.

He will need to keep a balance in his discussions of the highly emotional issue of immigration. McCain must keep talking about sealing the border, but for our legitimate national security, not because we hate foreigners. And he needs to continue to show Reaganesque respect for immigrants. That is the only way to win back some of those alienated by the nativist pandering of the other candidates - and to make the GOP a contender in this and future elections.

Gary Jason is a writer, businessman and university instructor in San Clemente.

http://www.dailynews.com/editorial/ci_8345386