Tom Tancredo could benefit from some “how to treat the Pope” classes. When the Pope visited the US, Tancredo wore a shirt which said “America is Full” and said that his (the pope’s) “immigration comments may have less to do with spreading the gospel than they do about recruiting new members of the church.” (more…)
Bad news for immigration hawks (in the US): ‘ The Bush administration has scaled back plans to quickly build a “virtual fence” along the U.S.-Mexico border, delaying completion of the first phase of the project by at least three years and shifting away from a network of tower-mounted sensors and surveillance gear.’ (more…)
It seems that John McCain hasn’t changed his views on (illegal) immigration. “Actually, I didn’t change my position…” McCain told Sean Hannity yesterday (video below the fold). McCain is, interestingly, constantly saying that conservatives opposed his plans because they didn’t trust government: that’s not the case. They opposed it because they disagreed with it. He has to be careful on this issue. (more…)
Anti-Muslim groups in Europe, and especially in the Netherlands, are becoming increasingly extreme. They’re not conservative: they’re fascist. (more…)
Although Mark Krikorian defends Mike Huckabee at the Corner, I have to say that I agree with the WaPo columnist who decided that it was time to spend some attention to the fact that Huckabee basically copied an immigration plan Krikorian came up with and wrote down somewhere last year.
As Dan Riehl points out, Huckabee acted as if the plan was his. He, among other things, said that he has “created a nine point immigration policy that says there is a 120 day period in which people go to their home country and start the process from the back of the line.” The problem is, of course, that Huckabee developed no such plan, he simply stole someone else’s (because his campaign didn’t have the money to hire someone to come up with an original plan probably). (more…)
It’s been an interesting day to be a supporter of Mike Huckabee. First, Huckabeen gave the money quote of the day speaking about what the American people want from their government. Then came the Dick Armey attack. Now, an apparent and transparent Huckabee flip-flop regarding the children of illegal immigrants: (more…)
Although Senator John McCain blasts Mitt Romney - and everybody else - when he says that McCain supported amnesty for illegal aliens (at one time or another), and is quite self-righteous about it at that, it has to be said that the only one lying about this issue is the Senator from Arizona himself. Via the Corner:
There are jobs that American workers simply won’t do,’ McCain said. ‘As long as there’s a demand for workers, workers are going to come across.’ An amnesty program is vital to any immigration legislation that includes a guest-worker program, he said. (more…)
We all know that Britain has a very serious radical Muslim problem, but I bet that most people outside of Britain - such as myself -knew it’s as bad as this:
Islamic extremists have created “no-go” areas across Britain where it is too dangerous for non-Muslims to enter, one of the Church of England’s most senior bishops warns today. (more…)
In the NY Times, Julia Preston writes that the immigration problem is defying politicians’ attempts to answer it easily.
Coinciding with the mood of apprehension following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the new immigration has provoked more than the traditional suspicion that foreigners are taking jobs from American workers. For many voters in the primary races, immigration has become an urgent national security concern and a challenge to the American identity.
In an e-mail to supporters Wednesday titled “How we win,” campaign manager Rick Davis mapped a path to victory: a “strong finish” in Iowa; the “top spot” in New Hampshire; a “well-positioned” showing in Michigan; carrying South Carolina; and a “unique ability” to compete in Florida.
Can he do it? He might. He’s most certainly making a comeback in the polls. A good showing in Iowa could very well result in a victory in New Hampshire after which he’ll do well in the other early states as well. And considering the fact that he’s considered to be a moderate by many, he’ll probably do well in big states if he’s considered to be the frontrunner after the first three, four primaries. (more…)
Our second guest post of the day is from Susan Duclos. She takes a closer look at illegal immigration. (more…)
Yanqui borderistas seek to deprive immigration advocates of their right to launch ball bearings, rocks, bottles and bricks into San Diego.
Jules Crittenden has more.
That darn, intolerant and uncompassionate Border Patrol.
Former Congressman Herman Badillo told Rudy Giuliani’s “immigration people” that the GOP has to tone down its immigration rhetoric. If not, they’ll lose the Hispanic vote completely.
Badillo told Giuliani’s advisers: “attacking each other on who has the greatest sanctuary city, they’re going to lose Hispanics.” He added: “I think it’s going to hurt the entire Republican Party. I think it’s going to throw the election to the Democrats.”
According to Badillo, Giulian’s people agreed with him. (more…)
Crooks and Liars has a video up of Congressman Tom Tancredo explaining why he refuses to participate in the Univision Debate. This debate will be held in Spanish. Tancredo believes, he explained, that American citizens should speak English and that the majority shouldn’t adopt the language of the migrating minority, but the minority should adopt the language of the majority.
He went on to say that he believes that a debate in Spanish sends the wrong signal. It will give people the impression, he argued, that it’s fine for them not to assimilate. (more…)
The illegal immigration problem is out of control in the U.S. That’s not news. What may not be so obvious is that the legal immigration process is nearly as bad off. Delays - often they go on for years - are common for immigrants this country should be falling all over itself to bring in.
I have a personal friend, a software engineer of extraordinary skill, who has been on the waiting list for more than 4 years, this despite the fact that his wife has already received her “green card”, their child was born in the States a few years back, they have both worked at the same employer for longer than I’ve known them, and they have the endorsement of more American citizens than one would normally think possible. He is that good of an employee and person. Yet the system has failed in his case.
Today CNN reported the story of a sailor in the Navy whose wife faces deportation. That’s bad enough when Eduardo Gonzalez is at home. But should he have to deal with that level of stress while he’s deployed overseas? Can nothing be done?
Mark Steyn writes that a proposed city bylaw in Vancouver, Canada would exempt Muslim “hookah lounges” from the no-smoking ordinance:
In Vancouver, infidels can’t smoke but Muslims can:
Vancouver’s hookah-parlour owners are celebrating after winning an exemption Thursday from a proposed new bylaw that will ban smoking on most sidewalks in commercial districts, in bus shelters and even in taxis passing through Vancouver.
In giving the bylaw unanimous approval-in-principle, Vancouver city council members bowed to arguments that hookah lounges…are essential for immigrants from hookah-smoking cultures, because it helps them deal with the depression common for newcomers and gives them places like they have at home.
This is ridiculous on several levels. (more…)
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has undone four years of George Pataki’s good work by ordering his state’s Department of Motor Vehicles to begin issuing driver’s licenses without regard to the applicant’s immigration status.
The change rolls back rules adopted four years ago under the Pataki administration that made it difficult, if not impossible, for tens of thousands of immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses because they could not prove legal status. Under the new rules, the Department of Motor Vehicles will accept a current foreign passport as proof of identity without also requiring a valid yearlong visa or other evidence of legal immigration. (more…)
Let’s face it: Republicans have never (which politically speaking means "within recent memory") been popular with Hispanic voters. The Houston Chronicle says that the GOP’s latest losses have been self-inflicted, brought on by their recent initiatives to reform immigration policy.
Lionel Sosa has been a proud Republican for years. He produced campaign commercials for the late Sen. John Tower, worked as a media consultant for Ronald Reagan and raised money for George W. Bush.
But the harsh immigration rhetoric of some Republicans has driven the Floresville executive to question the direction of his party.
"Anytime anybody says, ‘We’ve got to get those people out of here, and we’ve got to build a wall to keep those Mexicans out,’ it’s going to come off as unfriendly, period," he said. "If (Republicans) don’t pedal back on the rhetoric, they are going to be in big trouble."
The immigration debate is one reason why Sosa, 68, is supporting Democrat Bill Richardson, a Latino and New Mexico’s governor, for president. More important, his sense of betrayal is echoed in Hispanic communities across America. Latino support for President Bush and the Republican Party has plummeted this year as the debate over illegal immigration has driven Hispanic voters away from the GOP.
Betrayal is a pretty strong word, particularly since immigration reform has been simmering in the Republican pot for a long time. It’s hardly fair to characterize Bush’s push for immigration reform in this light.
Recall that it was Congressional Republicans who demanded more restrictions and less incentives for immigrants during the recent debates. "No Amnesty!" is a GOP catch phrase right enough. But that has nothing to do with George W. Bush.
It’s also quite childish and I can understand why voters would turn against a party that let’s petulance rule over common sense. The 10-20 million illegals already in the U.S. aren’t going anywhere. Use whatever fancy phrasing you want to - we have to do something to bring these people into the mainstream while we close the border behind them.
Bush is among those paying the price for the anti-Republican backlash. His job-approval rating among Latinos has plummeted to 20 percent from 35 percent since January, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of polling data for the Houston Chronicle. The drop is significantly sharper than among non-Hispanic whites and blacks.
"The trends are overwhelming," said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. "It’s been a complete collapse among Hispanics for the president."
I’m not really buying what Lake is selling. Yes, Bush’s numbers are down by half among Hispanic voters, but his approval rating among all voters is nearly as bad. Not that that is a good thing; it simply means that he’s losing support among other demographics just as much as among Latinos.
A Pew Hispanic Center survey found that Latinos prefer the Democrats’ approach to immigration by more than 2-to-1.
"The Republicans must have a death wish on that issue," says University of Texas political scientist Bruce Buchanan. "The clearest consequence is that they have handed the Democrats a (political) prize."
…
"I am worried about it," Rove said, hours after his Aug. 13 resignation as deputy White House chief of staff. "And you cannot ignore the aspirations of the fastest-growing minority in America. We did that once before (with African-Americans). … And we better not put ourselves in (that) place with a vital part of the electorate that fundamentally shares our values and views."
I’m worried about it too because despite Bush’s utter failure as a fiscal conservative, history is on the side of the Republicans when it comes to monetary restraint or, in the case of the Reagan years, more appropriate allocation of expenditures.
With expenses in Iraq adding up belt-tightening in other areas seems like a no-brainer. But Democrats have not seen it that way since taking control of Congress last year. If Hispanics throw their votes behind Democrats in the same or increasing numbers Republicans will have a difficult time making up ground lost in 2006. That means higher taxes and more government for everyone. Not a good outcome.
How to deal with immigration then?
"This is a sensitive issue," says Austin GOP consultant Reggie Bashur. "Everybody sees the lesson of California. The Republicans have to work through the immigration issue with a sensitivity to Hispanics to make sure that we don’t offend them."
That kind of language makes me nauseous because it signals an ill wind in the offing as relates to immigration reform. At least 5% of America’s population is here illegally and we’re expected not to offend anyone? Ridiculous.
If Hispanics do flock to Democratic candidates it will be for two reasons:
Neither of these is good for America. The free goodies given to one spread of voters are not not created out of thin air; rather, they are taken from other citizens, often the very workers who earned them at great expense of time and effort. Wealth redistribution, in other words.
The lack of national identification is another, more insidious problem that may be harder to address because attempts to codify the use of English as our official language, for instance, while legitimate from a long-term social perspective, only exacerbates the ethnic divide in the here and now, making the goal of a more integrated America that much harder to reach.
So is it political suicide to call for immigration reform? Perhaps. But that doesn’t make it less necessary.
Cross-posted at Black Shards.
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