More immigration will test U.S. economy, unity

[peejay 327]

More immigration will test U.S. economy, unity

By: Yeh Ling-Ling

Posted: 1/22/09

Last month, then President-elect Barack Obama '91 nominated Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano to head the Department of Homeland Security - despite the fact that she has actively opposed many measures to secure our borders, and has consistently advocated both amnesty for illegal immigrants and guest worker visas. This clearly signals Obama's desire to maintain high immigration levels, a position which will hurt all Americans economically, and further divide this nation.

The U.S. population has quadrupled since 1900. If our population growth continues at the rate of the last 10 years, even without immigrant amnesty, we will approach India's current population within the lifetimes of our grandchildren, and current minorities will become the majority. Such drastic demographic, cultural and political shifts will bring clashes and resentment.

According to Census data, Hispanics have surpassed black Americans in numbers and growth rates. The Asian population has also exploded. Since tensions do exist even within people of the same ethnic group, racial violence may escalate, especially in the context of a recession in which over 10 million Americans of diverse racial backgrounds are out of work. Competition for jobs and other resources will only strain race relations with three million more people added to the U.S. population every year.

Revs. Jeremiah Wright, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and many other black leaders feel deeply that black Americans have been mistreated by their white countrymen. They believe that increased immigration will help black Americans rise. Yet the "Rainbow Coalition" will not work: liberal news networks have reported tremendous tensions between blacks and Latinos because many blacks see increasing economic and political losses to Latinos as the latter's numbers grow.

Americans concerned about racial harmony should heed Mexican-American Professor Armando Navarro of the University of California at Riverside, who has organized many rallies to oppose measures to curb illegal immigration. On July 7, 2007, the L.A. Times quoted him saying that "a new majority is forming. Everything will change. The White House will be within our reach...We are only doing what any good Jew would do for Israel." Many open border advocates of Mexican descent have publicly claimed that the American Southwest is "stolen land."

Euro-Americans have been told to "go back to Europe." Some black American students in a high school in Los Angeles were reportedly told by their Latino peers to "go back to Africa." In 1999, according to the L.A. Times, pro-immigrant Norman Bernstein, then principal of an elementary in San Fernando Valley, California, was beaten "unconscious" by Latino men who told him: "We don't want you here any more, white principal". Hispanic parents in his school had circulated petitions demanding that he be replaced by a Spanish speaker.

If our next President successfully pushes for "comprehensive immigration reform" - amnesty for at least 12 million illegal migrants and a considerable number of "guest worker" visas - 120 million more people will become relatives of legalized people and "guest workers". Many will be born in the U.S., others will be eligible for citizenship. They will become potential voters, use energy, and need jobs, health care, education and other costly social services. Even trillions of dollars of economic stimulus plans may not provide enough jobs for those newcomers. The U.S. is already bankrupt, and many states are desperately awaiting federal aid. It will be irresponsible to continue to massively borrow from China and other nations to finance our current and future needs.

Furthermore, our immigration laws will not be seriously enforced if millions of newly legalized individuals become eligible voters. During the massive pro-amnesty demonstrations in 2006, many protesters pressured the U.S. for amnesty and other demands identical to the pressure placed on the U.S. by the Mexican government. They have publicly warned: "Today we march. Tomorrow we vote." According to The Hill, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has formally asked President-elect Obama to consider a number of Hispanic legislators for his Cabinet.

For the sake of all legal residents, President-elect Obama should advocate some sort of immigration moratorium. Our immigration laws should also be enforced across the board, so that we can put welfare recipients, non-violent prison inmates and other unemployed low-skilled Americans to work in jobs currently held by illegal workers.

The above steps will save tens of billions of dollars a year by decreasing the need for social services and unemployment benefits. Part of the savings can pay for rebuilding our infrastructure without adding to the already $11 trillion national debt. Fewer foreign-born children in our schools would allow us to focus on teaching our kids the three Rs and other skills needed to compete in this global economy. Furthermore, affirming English as our official language and eliminating "bilingual education" could help unify this multilingual nation.

The fate of this nation is in the hand of our new President. May wisdom and foresight dictate his immigration policy.

Yeh Ling-Ling is executive director of the Alliance for a Sustainable USA.. The publication of this op-ed does not reflect the opinion of the Harvard Law Record.

http://media.www.hlrecord.org/media/storag...y-3592375.shtml

[dalegg 143]

Ling-Ling? Isn't he a VJ member?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

*sigh* for the good ol' days when america was almost all-white and no one fought anyone over anything.

[geezer 1]

There is a large minority nationally and even a majority in some states of people that dont favor immigration either legal or illegal.

As the economy worsens I think there are going to be more and more calls to curb if not stop immigration. There will be much more attention paid to the I-134 and I-184's to insure sponsers/cosponsers meet the guidelines. A year from now people might be looking back and saying how fast petitions were filed then...

Obama is probably not going to do anything about the issue until after the midterm elections and when he does its may not be be what people expect.

[panamania79 2]

Ling-Ling? Isn't he a VJ member?

I thought Ling-Ling was a panda bear.

*sigh* for the good ol' days when america was almost all-white and no one fought anyone over anything.

There were fights back then too.

[Teacher Mark 53]

A little diddy from the early part of last century:

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

*sigh* for the good ol' days when america was almost all-white and no one fought anyone over anything.

There were fights back then too.

Oh, please. The Civil War was nothing compared to the LA riots.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

There is a large minority nationally and even a majority in some states of people that dont favor immigration either legal or illegal.

As the economy worsens I think there are going to be more and more calls to curb if not stop immigration. There will be much more attention paid to the I-134 and I-184's to insure sponsers/cosponsers meet the guidelines. A year from now people might be looking back and saying how fast petitions were filed then...

Obama is probably not going to do anything about the issue until after the midterm elections and when he does its may not be be what people expect.

I think you're right, although what sparked new interest or new recruits towards groups like Numbers USA, was 9/11. Fear is the biggest motivating factor against immigration in general. It wasn't too long ago that many Western European nations were encouraging immigrants to move their country because of steady declining birthrates. Even here in the US, the birthrates are in a steady decline among native born citizens, which goes back to the fear quotient. With the currents trends in birthrates continue, 'whites' will be a minority.

[pedroh 21]

imagine... mixed races in the USA

the outrage..

[panamania79 2]

*sigh* for the good ol' days when america was almost all-white and no one fought anyone over anything.

There were fights back then too.

Oh, please. The Civil War was nothing compared to the LA riots.

Hellooo,don't you remember the "gangs of New York."

[pedroh 21]

*sigh* for the good ol' days when america was almost all-white and no one fought anyone over anything.

There were fights back then too.

Oh, please. The Civil War was nothing compared to the LA riots.

Hellooo,don't you remember the "gangs of New York."

they were all whites, doesn't count

[Chica Yeyé 41]

*sigh* for the good ol' days when america was almost all-white and no one fought anyone over anything.

There were fights back then too.

Oh, please. The Civil War was nothing compared to the LA riots.

Hellooo,don't you remember the "gangs of New York."

they were all whites, doesn't count

WORD. they were irish. back then the irish were not "white".

[one...two...tree 2,762]

imagine... mixed races in the USA

the outrage..

I tried and all I could think of was all the good ethnic foods that will be easier to come by. I'm starving.

[pedroh 21]

imagine... mixed races in the USA

the outrage..

I tried and all I could think of was all the good ethnic foods that will be easier to come by. I'm starving.

no dude, but if you suddeny got more melatonin on ur skin and got darker, you'd lose all your white heritage.. oh noes!!

Edited January 28, 2009 by pedroh

[panamania79 2]

*sigh* for the good ol' days when america was almost all-white and no one fought anyone over anything.

There were fights back then too.

Oh, please. The Civil War was nothing compared to the LA riots.

Hellooo,don't you remember the "gangs of New York."

they were all whites, doesn't count

Yes it does.They were still getting the ####### beat out of them by the so-called "true Americans."