By Jim Spencer
SpencerSpeaks.com
The surveys continue to arrive, even though proponents of nativism succeeded in killing comprehensive immigration reform in Congress months ago.
The surveys usually come addressed to my wife, who handles all the finances in our household.
The surveying groups always bill themselves as “non-partisan, non-profit” entities, some with tax-deductible 501(c) 3 status.
They share something else: A hatred of illegal immigrants so vociferous and distorted that it borders on racism.
And sometimes crosses that border.
Consider this warning in a recent missive from Americans for Immigration Control, Inc. “… if we continue on our current course, the U.S. population will nearly double and we will become what has been described as a ‘majority-minority’ nation, with ‘non-Hispanic whites accounting for barely half of all residents.’”
It’s an invasion of colored people. The dark races are on their way to taking over what was once – and ever should be - the white man’s domain.
Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.
Tom Fitton’s supposedly non-partisan, non-profit Judicial Watch comes to my wife with exclusively Republican endorsements and a list of six “Recent Victories” that include five actions against Bill or Hillary Clinton.
While he may be upset by what he considers Clintonian corruption, Fitton is fit to be tied by the invasion “of illegal aliens that threaten our freedoms, our way of life and our economy.”
“If you are as angry as I am over our nation being invaded by an army of illegal aliens – including criminals, drug dealers and terrorists – that some politicians want to reward with amnesty and a ‘path to citizenship,’ then please return your survey along with your most generous contribution to help us.”
Help us what – sew seeds of hate against anyone with dark skin who speaks with an accent?
Fitton wants my wife and me to answer 18 questions. One of them reads, “Do you support giving the children of illegal aliens a free public school education?”
If Fitton is as engaged as he claims in his war against illegal immigrants, he surely knows that the United States Supreme Court has already adjudicated this issue. A majority of justices said children of illegal immigrants are constitutionally entitled to free public school education.
So that’s not just the humane position, the one that helps kids rise above their parents’ station and hopefully contribute more to this country. It is the law.
What part of illegal does somebody who asks this question not understand?
The surveys my wife keeps getting show more than frustration with a frustrating problem. They show a fear of all foreigners spiced with a suspension of disbelief.
Americans for Immigration Control finally asks for what they really want:
“Would you APPROVE or DISAPPROVE of a temporary ‘Immigration Moratorium’ which would cease all immigration for a period of 3-5 years to give the current immigrant population time to assimilate and the Border patrol the opportunity to regain control over our borders?”
There it is, the nut paragraph of the nativism argument, an argument that is truly nuts culturally, economically and, most importantly, logistically. The fantasy of 21st century isolationism replaces the reality of 12 million undocumented workers living in
“Do you support stationing
Are you still beating your wife?
Push polls are interesting. They word questions to drive a particular conclusion. They cull numbers. For instance, proponents of nativism love to toss around cost estimates for educating children of undocumented immigrants or providing social services for undocumented families. No one says what it will cost to line the borders with troops or to deport 12 million undocumented people from the country’s interior.
The fact that such ruthless efforts will likely fail at any price surely is not discussed.
Instead, we get this from Judicial Watch:
“Do you support providing illegal aliens with regular medical treatment at taxpayer expense?”
Even if you hate the so-called “browning” of
The people Judicial Watch calls “illegal aliens” are legally entitled to medical treatment in emergency rooms no matter how much you despise them. It costs you a lot more to treat undocumented indigents in the ER than it would in community clinics.
But as the surveys my wife and I keep getting show: When you can whip up a good case of xenophobia with fear and fantasy, why bother with facts?
Copyright 2007 by Jim Spencer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
18 users commented in " Anti-Immigrant Push Polls Fuel Racism, Not Results "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackIt is good to see someone exposing the horrors of push-polls. Maybe we’ll get lucky and sanity will prevail.
Well — and necessarily — said. There’s been more than a whiff of mid-19th century “Know-Nothing” racism to much of the anti-immigration rhetoric almost from the beginning. The few with reasonable and arguable objections to illegal immigration are largely being drowned out by the nativist hysteria of the folks who do this push-polling, and who also end up getting the most infotainment time on local TV “News” programs.
Right on! Let’s have a moratorium on all immigration. Then, the companies that have been outsourcing jobs will have all the justification they want to continue the practice. There are not enough visas now for the intelligent, high-tech workers that our economy needs. And the schools, at least in Colorado, don’t seem to be producing the people with the skills our economy needs.
All children in our society deserve decent medical coverage and free public education, regardless of their parents immigration status.
The question one must ask is who is supporting these children if their parents have an illegal status in our country and are not allowed to work. If they are working, and illegal, are they assuming somebody else’s identity? or is business skirting taxes by paying under the table cash???
What solutions do propose that will get a handle on the millions of people migrating into our country with no respect to the traditional immigration methods? Are you proposing that the border be wide open (as it now appears to be and you seem o.k with), with no control whatsoever? If so, do you believe that all people who come (regardless of how they came) deserve to get work visas? What will this do to our labor markets?
Some of the ’so called’ nativists may have a racist bend, but sticking our head in the sand is not a solution either.
Don’t you agree that somebody could be concerned about immigration without being a racist?
I am a first generation American. My parents followed the traditional immigration methods. It took them many years and a lot of paper work.
BALONEY! WHAT PART OF ILLEGAL DON”T YOU
UNDERSTAND?
The stockholders of the failing corporation
called the United States of America have
been sold down the river by it’s board of
directors. EVERYONE gets a SHARE regardless
of their investment in the country. I’d
be happy just to have back the PRINCIPAL
amount that I’ve paid into Social Security
for instance (way over a hundred grand!)
then MAYBE I could affor the $600 a month
I pay for health insurance!
And you want to FUND everyone and their
kids from every nation on EARTH who ignors
our LAWS and sneaks in here?
The money should come out of YOUR pocket
idiot. When I signed on 35 years ago those
weren’t the rules. We actually had borders
and laws. I think we should your house
NOIDEA and every possession you have and
give it to illegal aliens and their kids.
THAT’S WHAT YOU”RE SUGGESTING! Does THAT
put it in perspective for you!!!!!!!
instance
Why isn’t our government working with the government of Mexico to clean up their act so their people will have a decent life and jobs in Mexico? Why don’t we outsource closer to home?
People are coming into this country without proper immunization that they would need if they had a legitimate visa… In recent years we’ve had a return of Pertussis, etc. that we had eradicated from this country.
Sadly,if the current administration had enforced our existing immigration laws the past 7 years instead of ignoring the law during the massive influx of immigrants, we wouldn’t have this divisive problem in our country.
One must ask why they ignored it. They’re not exactly known for compassion. Is their goal futher divisiveness?
Hammond,
I am not an idiot. I just believe that, as the song went, “the children are our future”> Not to mention, they are unable to help themselves. We need to look after our very young and our elderly. If you don’t believe this then I think that you need to look yourself in the mirror and ask “what have I become”?
If you cared to read the rest of what I wrote, I pondered the questions of how we can manage the sea of immigration that is out of control from our borders. I did however differentiate the children and I am not ashamed of this.
Or is their goal the further devaluation of the American worker, i.e. low wages whether it be hi-tech or lo-tech industries?
Let’s face it, the rich are getting richer and the middle class is gtting smaller and smaller.
Karl Rove’s master plan at work.
I’m surprised the Dems who supposedly care about the American worker can’t see through it.
In addition, Hammond… we need immigration if we want our economy to grow to support the Social Security system that you claim that you have paid so much money into. Immigration is not the problem, undocumented immigration IS the problem. I asked Jim what his thoughts are to control this problem as he doesn’t support a beefed up presence at the border.
Don’t be so narrow minded. Although I am ashamed to say this, I probably agree with you (in principle) more than others on this blog…it’s just that your articulation is troublesome.
Thanks for calling hatred of immigrants by it’s real name — racism. It’s certainly not patriotism.
Noidea, What is it they say? the road
to hell is paved with good intentions.
We’re heading there on a hand cart and
it’s our compassion which is propelling
us unfortunately. How can we possibly
afford to cover the monumental costs
associated with 13 million illegals and
their “Anker baby” kids? As for these
people paying into the system don’t
count on it, they are either non tax
payers or net tax receivers and their
drain on social programs far out weighs
any contributions. To put it lightly
we’re screwed all we can do is try to
stop the bleeding and fence the border
right away. Blocking eligibility and
access to programs is another way to
create a hostile environment for illegals.
We can’t keep encouraging illegals to
come here. We just can’t afford it, it’s
simple economics and has nothing to do with
race, the problem would be the same if the
Canadians were coming here for public
accomodations.
Racism and xenophobia distort the real problems associated with illegal immigration. Many people who are against racism seem to support and ecourage illegal immigration. That makes no sense to me. I have often asked the question, “If we need immigrants to do jobs that can’t be filled by Americans, why don’t we make it easier for people to immigrate legally, or at least make it easier to get work Visas?” I suspect that the answer is that many people in our government want immigrants to be illegal so that they are easier to exploit with lower wages and poorer working conditions. The vast majority of the discussion about illegal immigration on both sides of this issue has been very dishonest. I have only read editorials by three writers on this subject that address the real issues regarding this subject. Those writers are Froma Harrop, Cynthia Tucker, and the late Molly Ivins. They all knew that our nation allows people to immigrate illegally to provide cheap labor for corporations. Corporations rule this country and your vote won’t change that fact as long as we continue to elect Republicans and Democrats who act like Republicans.
Urthpigg,
Well said. This country was built on slave labor and undocumented workers perpetuates this ugly tradition.
Let’s not forget Urthpigg that this wave
of illegals represents a whole constituancy
of voters for Democrats offering the usual
handouts. That’s the other half of the
dishonesty factor which you aptly addressed.
One has to ask how this sitution (13 million
illegals and more coming) evolved. At least
Corporations don’t run on tax dollars and we
get the benefit of the low wages i.e. that
tried and true dollar menu at McDonalds.
There’s plenty of self interest and
dishonesty to go around in American politics
As for those insightful writers you
mentioned??????? Are you out of your mind
Molly Irvins? Fromma hopp? If you’re a
guy you should be drummed out of the sex.
I agree. It’s just as simple as basic mathematics. Businesses within an industry are all producing the same commodity probably using the same equipment and paying the same wages. The only way they can get an edge on their competition is to cut overhead, and using illegal immigrants has til now been easy money for them. Employers also like to use illegal immigrants whenever they are skirting the law (e.g., hazardous materials dumping, unsafe construction sites) or practicing abuses like failing to pay overtime or using underage workers. Further, if you look at the long-term problem, continuing to import workers to take the jobs on the lower scale of the economy is a pyramid scheme: the first wave works its way out of stoop labor and you need a second wave; the second wave works its way out, etc., etc. If we could put more pressure on employers to innovate their processes and equipment, we could avoid an eventual population bomb, and the same thing goes for their lack of commitment to training new workers. They should be running apprenticeship programs for kids who are not college-bound, more likely than not kids from urban centers who are filling up our prisons instead, while employers pay illegal workers under the table. Unlimited immigration, whether legal or illegal, also gets the real estate developers and the retail businesses smacking their chops. It’s exploitation and overpopulation doing a tango.
Also, if the lax immigration policy is
allowed because illegals “Take jobs
nobody wants” Why do we have to pay for
their and their childrens higher education?
This contradicts the premise for throwing
immigration policy or laws out the window.
Every group has their own agenda for the
“benefits” of letting a mass of uneducated
impoverished and unvactionated people
cross the border and become a social burden.
The net affect is a native for the cost
to the country for social welfare programs
medicaid and education paid for by U.S.
citizens. I wouldn’t call it exploitation
since monies going back to Mexico from the
U.S. via Wester Union constitutes about a
quarter of Mexico’s GDP I suppose you
want Illegal workers unionized. They
shouldn’t be here to be “exploited” or
at some point cast a vote.
Hey Jim,
Before you go into the xenophobic, anti immmigrant you guys are haters argument….look into Mexico’s immigration laws..Maybe you have and don’t care. You just enjoy calling responsible Americans racist because it is easy…. In fact, look into every other country in the world’s immigration policies….I know that you wrote this column a while ago, but I read an article regarding Vincente Fox’s new book accusing US of the same things that Jim does. Yet he doesn’t propose the same immigration reforms for his OWN country. In fact, a person that is a citizen in Mexico can be deported for even voicing an opinion regarding politics in Mexico…
Jim, why is it us (in your opinion) that are always the bad guys>
The immigration issue has heated emotions, much as the abortion issue has. But racism… I don’t think so.
The U.S. was built by immigrants, and our diversity is one of our greatest strengths. It seems to me that the current controversy most specifically concerns Mexican immigrants.
That’s not racism, though, it’s numbers. Asians and Europeans and Africans are pretty much forced to enter the country legally. Mexicans just have to cross the border - perhaps again and again. Eventually, they get to stay.
The Asian population in the U.S. has risen rapidly, but there is a reasonable presumption that it has risen legally. The Hispanic population has risen even more rapidly, and in many cases illegally.
I admire the grit of Latinos who come here illegally for the sole purpose of better supporting their families. But couldn’t their grit be applied to improving their own country?
I really appreciate the U.S. ideal of opening arms to immigrants. But put emotions aside. Put racism aside. Look at the numbers. Unless we better adhere to another U.S. ideal, the rule of law, the U.S.A. could be North Mexico in another twenty years.
Leave A Reply