spacetropic

saturnine, center-right, sometimes neighborly

April 11, 2006

¡Viva America!

The immigration rallies that have taken place across the United States send a very clear signal to politicians and Americans that, regardless of how they got here, these folks are in this country and they have no qualms participating loudly in our civic process.

The practical bottom line is simple: There is no way on God’s green earth we are deporting eight to ten million people, regardless of how they got here, regardless of how anyone feels about the possibility. Call them illegal, call them workers, call them patriots. When it’s all said and done they are installed deeply in our economy and culture, and they came here for all of the same reasons as (most of) our ancestors. My own Irish forbearers were also called shiftless, lazy moochers who were diluting the culture during the 19th century and taking away employment that rightfully belonged to others. This ugly chapter of history has been mostly forgotten because subsequent events completely demolished those petty ethnic resentments and temporal tension in the labor economies of the day.

Some conservative blog I read recently contained the tired old trope that “if we can send a man to the moon” we can also evict millions of illegal immigrants. This kind of magical thinking is evidence of how far removed this debate has gone from reality. It’s also proof positive that the Democrats are going to hand the Republicans their own asses on this issue - even while ignoring their own union base. The politics are painfully simple when we have an economy booming along at 4.7 percent unemployment – regardless of Iraq and Katrina. And the politics become a no-brainer when viewed in terms of the long-term demographic outlook of America.

Border security is a problem and we need stronger enforcement. I can be convinced that recent arrivals need to be sent home and infrastructure needs to be added. But leaders in government can make these important tasks easier by accepting the political reality that our current immigration policy is comparable to the 55 mile per hour speed limit – stupid, impractical, and impossible to enforce. The questions are only about the future – where we go from here, and who gets leverage in the political debate.

Conservative moderates like myself should welcome people from cultures that place such a strong emphasis on family and religious observation. And we can also consider the example of Ronald Reagan – who never gave an anti-immigration speech in his life and granted amnesty for millions. And we should listen carefully for the true motivations behind these callers on talk radio and blog comments, with their sweeping ethnic conclusions and “these people” characterizations.

Doesn’t George W. Bush speak Spanish?

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