Thread: Supporters of open borders have lost on that issue

Supporters of open borders have lost on that issue
Victor Davis Hanson, Tribune Media Services, Inc.
Thursday, January 10, 2008

With the war in Iraq politically on the back burner, illegal immigration is heating up as a campaign issue. The public wants action, and the candidates are scrambling to react.

Sen. Hillary Clinton's sure nomination was first questioned when she flubbed an easy debate question about driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

Sen. John McCain's recovery took off when he backed away from his support of immigration reform that did not first ensure the closure of the border.

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is no longer for "sanctuary cities" that shield illegal immigrants from arrest. Like former Gov. Mike Huckabee, he's now a born-again opponent of illegal immigration.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney assures us that some illegal immigrants can be deported within 90 days after he's elected.

Sen. Barack Obama may talk of "change," but his relative fuzziness about illegal immigration can't last forever, and at some point he will have to offer more specific proposals.

Some time ago, supporters of open borders lost the debate. The majority of Americans want them closed - now! They ignore the tired slurs like "anti-immigrant," "racist," "protectionist" and "nativist." And noisy May Day parades with Mexican flags and heated rhetoric from the National Council of La Raza ("The Race") only turn more people off.

It doesn't do any good, either, for a Mexico City functionary to cry about how mean we are to want a secure border with Mexico. Most Americans also tuned that out long ago.

They know instead that Mexico cares mostly about sending north those it won't or can't feed and house - so it can skim off from them billions in remittances once immigrants arrive in the United States.

Mexico City, of course, could reform the country's laws and economy whenever it wants. But it changes only enough to draw in tourists or Americans looking to buy vacation homes, not to better the lives of millions of its mestizo poor in the heartland.

The spin masters may think illegal immigration is an issue that pits conservative Republicans against liberal Democrats. But it doesn't always.

Nowadays, worry about illegal immigration is just as likely to mean that African Americans are terrified of racist gangs in Los Angeles. Asian Americans are frustrated that their relatives with college degrees wait years to emigrate legally, while thousands without high-school diplomas to the south simply break the law to enter the United States.

And many Mexican Americans are probably tired of being expected to defend the indefensible of foreign nationals breaking immigration laws simply because they may share an ethnic heritage with illegal immigrants.

To the extent Democratic candidates ignore illegal immigration, or demonize those who worry over hundreds of thousands of new illegal immigrants each year, or talk of guest workers and amnesty before they mention closing the borders, it is a losing issue that could alienate millions of voters.

Democratic candidates can't really claim that redneck racists are rushing to the border to clash with poor campesinos just crossing to better their lives, because many poor Democrats also resent how illegal labor drives down their own wages. It is mostly the American poor and middle class who worry about the sudden influx of thousands who don't speak English and often need public assistance.

But the Republican candidates have to watch it, too. If blanket amnesty is a losing issue, so also is mass deportation - the practicality and morality of which are rarely considered by those rightly calling for an end to illegal immigration. Busing every illegal immigrant back to Mexico right now might resemble the past messy partition of India and Pakistan, and reopen the issue in a way that Democrats can legitimately exploit.

What then might an astute candidate advocate?

Close the border now through fencing, more agents, employer sanctions, enforcement of the law and verifiable identification. Restore faith in the melting pot by insisting that new legal arrivals learn English and the customs and protocols of the United States.

Explain to the Mexican and Central American governments that using the United States to avoid addressing internal problems - while making easy dollars off the backs of their own expatriate laborers - is over.

Finally, deport immigrants who have broken the law, are not working or have just arrived. Some illegal immigrants will not like the new atmosphere of tough enforcement and will voluntarily go back home. Others may have criminal records or no history of employment and should leave as well.

But many millions of law-abiding, employed illegal immigrants of long residence will wish to stay. We should allow these to remain in the United States while they apply for citizenship - if they are willing to learn promptly our language and customs.

Republican candidates must risk angering their base by ruling out mass deportation. Democrats should support closing the border tightly and quickly - and not cave in to open-borders pressure groups.

Making these tough choices now is what most voters want. The candidates of both parties in the next few months will either adjust accordingly or lose elections.

Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and author, most recently, of "A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War." You can reach him by e-mailing author@victorhanson.com.

This article appeared on page B - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 9UC3AS.DTL

But many millions of law-abiding, employed illegal immigrants of long residence will wish to stay. We should allow these to remain in the United States while they apply for citizenship - if they are willing to learn promptly our language and customs





No, we should not allow them to stay. Under any circumstances.

But many millions of law-abiding, employed illegal immigrants of long residence will wish to stay. We should allow these to remain in the United States while they apply for citizenship - if they are willing to learn promptly our language and customs.

And what makes anyone think they will learn English and adopt our customs? They haven't so far.

Originally Posted by Cliffdid

But many millions of law-abiding, employed illegal immigrants of long residence will wish to stay. We should allow these to remain in the United States while they apply for citizenship - if they are willing to learn promptly our language and customs.

And what makes anyone think they will learn English and adopt our customs? They haven't so far.

I was wondering the same thing.

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is no longer for "sanctuary cities" that shield illegal immigrants from arrest. Like former Gov. Mike Huckabee, he's now a born-again opponent of illegal immigration.

HAHA! I HEARD THAT RUDI DID 3 ADS TO RUN IN FLORIDA- AND THEY ARE ALL IN SPANISH!

THIS MAN IS A CLOWN. ALL HE TALKS ABOUT IS 9/11. HE ENCOURAGED ILLEGAL ALIENS TO STAY IN NEW YORK CITY. HE PROBABLY ADDED 1 OR 2 MILLION PEOPLE TO THE POPULATION OF NYC, AND NOW THESE PEOPLE ARE "HIDING IN THE SHADOWS" AND TAKING THE WORK FROM AMERICANS.

Agree with the above, and...

I personally don't believe that being a mayor - even in a large US city - is enough experience to be Prez. Such a person can't have the needed sufficient understanding of the Fed Govt ...to be a good president.

Which, is not to say, that good presidents from very humble or narrow backgrounds haven't happened before. It's just that at this time, we need someone that knows what needs to be done and how to get it done reasonably efficiently. Time is important in the next go 'round.
I don't believe RudyG delivers in either area.

Originally Posted by zeezil

But many millions of law-abiding, employed illegal immigrants

Stuff it Hanson, do you think we are so stupid as to believe people who broken many laws to live and work in America are "law-abiding'?

I cannot believe anyone would even write the phrase "law-abiding illegal immigrants" and expect us to swallow it. It just shows how shallow and corrupt they are.

By the way, Hanson supports McCain for President.

PS.

Hanson owns a farm in California. He probably has illegals working for him he thinks should get amnesty!