by Steven Sisson
Immigrant song and dance
April 07, 2005 04:35 PM EST


by Steven Sisson
ValleyBlueDog@aol.com

"At current immigration patterns, by 2040, there will not be a dominant ethnic group in America. We will all be minorities. We are the only country in history that ever deliberately changed its ethnic makeup, and history has few examples of ’diversity’ creating a stable society."

- Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm, The Chronicles, November 1996

Why do kamikaze pilots wear helmets? Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him? If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

Don’t answer those questions. Hold those brain-teasing thoughts for just one second.

Better yet, answer this question ...

Why don’t politicians tackle the challenges of Virginia’s undocumented illegals?

Why not? I say it’s political theater. Both parties love to play with social-engineering legislation to some degree - left and right. It’s the legacy of our country’s baby boomers combined with the unrestrained behaviors of the 1960s and 1970s.

But the fact of the matter is that Virginia is being invaded on a daily basis by an army of illegal aliens.

Recently, The Washington Times reported that more than 6 million illegal-immigrant Mexicans now live in the United States, making up more than half of the nation’s nearly 11 million illegal aliens, citing a new study by the Pew Hispanic Center.

The Pew Hispanic Center study found that between 80 percent and 85 percent of Mexican-born people now in the United States came here illegally.

The Times also reported that a recent estimate by Bear Stearns Asset Management put the figure (illegal immigrants in the U.S.) as high as 20 million.

The Blue Dog says America has 20 million reasons stop apologizing and take on the challenge of addressing the issue of the undocumented. No doubt, every United State citizen should learn and speak English, and we, as a country, need to stop pandering to illegal immigrants under the guise of diversity issues and multiculturalism.

Virginia’s undocumented are bankrupting the state’s social and educational system and driving up health-care insurance costs statewide. It’s a big deal with local governments who are dealing with unfunded mandates from the state, but the local and state governments are not addressing those undocumented realities.




She-Devil Dog is a Virginia Democratic political consultant, and wrote back on the issue, "Yipes, Blue Dog! I don’t suppose there is any way to stem the flow of bilious, inflammatory and false commentary on immigrants by providing facts and information, but I have to try."

But the law is the law, and according to United States federal law, it mandates, no employer - private or public - should hire undocumented workers, and those workers should be reported to the proper authorities for deportation.

Another new Blue Dog Tales contributor, the Atomic Dog (Texas Technocrat) said, "It’s the political third rail of the Hispanic community: Immigration is a hot-button issue for Mexican-Americans, and at least mildly controversial among other Hispanics."


"But more to the question of what: There are at least three tiers of immigration (legal and/or illegal) happening in this country. The only fundamental difference regarding legal status (besides political fodder for the extreme right) is a side issue regarding tracking and record keeping."

The Atomic Dog went on to list the tier breakdown.

First tier: "Top-tier immigrants: doctors, research scientists, et al coming to the U.S. Frankly, we’re better off with them than without them; these are the people Franklin and Madison wanted to lure here 230 years ago."

Second tier: "Middle-tier immigrants: skilled and semi-skilled industrial and professional workers, from India, Eastern Europe and elsewhere. These are the H1-B visa-types that have received so much play from Lou Dobbs on CNN."

Third tier: "Bottom-tier immigrants: The people who come here because they enjoy a better life as ditch diggers and dishwashers in the U.S. than whatever life they left behind. This really is the promise on the Statue of Liberty, for these people are precisely the hungry, the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to break free."

That’s a triple-deluxe challenge.

Here in the Valley, residents know crime and drugs are very prevalent in the undocumented communities from the sensationalized news headlines of the local printed newspapers.

But it’s the rise in domestic violence and abuse of children and women that is alarming with the undocumented. Most heinous criminal behavior by the illegal immigrants goes unreported as well.

Why so?

Those crimes are often hidden because the community fears reporting the incidences to the police because it could result in deportation.

In the past, the Blue Dog has talked with the local Commonwealth’s attorney about the problem, and the office is overwhelmed. I’m sure it’s that way across Virginia. But no doubt about it, the undocumented are a huge burden on the taxpayer.

She-Devil Dog wrote, "Crime stats ... don’t know where you get some of this stuff ... obviously anecdotal. Fact is in Richmond, where the Hispanic/Latino population is now about 5 percent as a result of 400 percent growth between 1995-2000, they are the victims of two-thirds of the robberies and burglaries. This is largely because they are living in a subculture with no access to banks to keep money safe, etc."

Is there a correlation between the increases?

She-Devil wrote, "You are right that federal and state policies are forcing the costs of working with foreign-born down to the local levels while keeping tax revenues from their work, etc., at the federal level."

In the Valley, the local Hispanic community has increased 800 percent between 1990-2000, and currently, Hispanics are the single largest ethic minority in the Central Shenandoah Valley, roughly 6 percent of the population.

And 40 percent of the immigrants, legal and illegal, are from Spanish-speaking nations.

But don’t read me wrong, not all illegal immigrants are Hispanic; they’re different nationalities, such as Ukrainian Serbs to ethically mixed Chinese in the Shenandoah Valley.

And sure, American is the land of opportunity - the land of plenty.

But lawlessness is not a precious resource we should value.

Steven Sisson is a regular contributor to The Augusta Free Press. Read past columns at www.augustafreepress.com/sisson <www.augustafreepress.com/sisson> .

http://www.theconservativevoice.com/art ... oryid=4596