Saturday, November 19, 2005

The GOP fights itself on Illegal Immigration

GG note: This post was written in 2005, one month after I began blogging. It was recently dug up by some Obama cultists trying to discredit my criticisms of the President (to understand what I mean by "Obama cultists," see this 2006 post I wrote about Bush cultists: exactly the same mentality). As my subsequent writing reflects over the next many years, this post does not remotely reflect my views on immigration. My response to someone who recently asked about it is here:

That was a 6 yrs ago: 3 weeks after I began blogging, when I had zero readers. I've discussed many times before how there were many uninformed things I believed back then, before I focused on politics full-time - due to uncritically ingesting conventional wisdom, propaganda, etc. I've written many times since then about how immigrants are exploited by the Right for fear-mongering purposes. I'm 100% in favor of amnesty, think defeat of the DREAM Act was an act of evil, etc. That said, I do think illegal immigration is a serious problem: having millions of people live without legal rights; having a legal scheme that is so pervasively disregarded breeds contempt for the rule of law; virtually every country - not just the U.S. insists on border control because having a manageable immigration process is vital on multiple levels. But that post is something I wrote literally a few weeks after I began blogging when nobody was reading my blog; it was anything but thoughtful, contemplative, and informed, and - like so many things I thought were true then - has nothing to do with what I believe now.

That's why Obama cultists have to dig back 6 years into my archives to try to find things to discredit me.

* * * * *

To the rapidly expanding list of throbbing internal problems in the Republican Party, one can add, and it should really be placed near the top of the list, the dilemma of illegal immigration. And today’s Op-Ed in the Washington Post by GOP strategist and former White House official Leslie Sanchez, in which she cynically and baselessly blames the loss of the GOP Virginia gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore on his fervent opposition to illegal immigration, illustrates why the GOP has been so passive and fearful when it comes to dealing with this problem.

And yet few problems are more pressing. Over the past several years, illegal immigrants have poured into the United States by the millions. The wave of illegals entering the country is steadily increasing. The people living in the border states of California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico know this flow has to be drastically slowed and then halted. The situation is so dire in that region that the Democratic Governors of Arizona and New Mexico were forced to declare States of Emergency as a result of the flow of illegals into their states and the resulting, massive problems which it brings.

The parade of evils caused by illegal immigration is widely known, and it gets worse every day. In short, illegal immigration wreaks havoc economically, socially, and culturally; makes a mockery of the rule of law; and is disgraceful just on basic fairness grounds alone. Few people dispute this, and yet nothing is done.

A substantial part of the GOP base urgently wants Republicans, who now control the entire Federal Government, to take the lead in enforcing our nation’s immigration laws. And yet the GOP, despite its unchallenged control, does virtually nothing, infuriating this sector of its party. The White House does worse than nothing; to the extent it acts on this issue at all, it is to introduce legislation designed to sanction and approve of illegal immigration through its “guest worker” program, a first cousin of all-out amnesty for illegal immigrants.

GOP inaction when it comes to illegal immigration is at once mystifying and easily explainable. There is a wing of the party – the Wall St. Journal/multinational corporation wing – which loves illegal immigration because of its use as a source of cheap labor. And while that wing of the party is important because of the financial support it provides, it is a distinct minority when it comes to electoral power.

The real reason Republicans treat the need to address the illegal immigration problem like a trip to the dentist -- as something they want to avoid at all costs -- is because they have been convinced that adopting an aggressive stance on illegal immigration will cost them too many votes among the nation’s ethnic minorities and legal immigrants. And that is what brings us to Sanchez’s Op-Ed, which illustrates just how unconvincing and baseless that alarmist view really is.

With absolutely no hard data or even evidentiary inferences of any kind, Sanchez emphatically announces that the reason GOP candidate Jerry Kilgore lost the election in Virginia is because he was too strident about the evils of illegal immigration. And she warns other GOP candidates that they will face a similar fate unless they modulate their tone and soften their position. Here is the crux of Sanchez's warning:

Republicans nationally should draw a number of lessons from the party's unsuccessful effort to take back the Virginia governor's mansion this month. . .

When it comes to immigration, dropping the word "illegal" into any anti-immigration proposal is not likely to work electoral magic. . . . Republicans embrace anti-immigrant fervor at their peril. The party is perilously close to adopting as its immigration policy the hanging of a "closed" sign on the border. To do so would be a gross mistake that would oversimplify the problem and set back all the efforts of President Bush to build bridges to America's growing population of Hispanics while finding a workable solution to a complex problem, one with far-ranging political consequences for the party over the long run.

The “substance” of this claim is facially ludicrous and easily dismissed. There already is a “closed sign on the border” when it comes to illegal immigration. It’s called the law. The problem is that the “closed sign” isn’t being enforced because the Federal Government, which has its interfering, power-hungry hands in virtually everything else, has abdicated its duty in one of the very few areas where it was actually meant to be: border security.

While her policy argument is easily dismissed, Sanchez’s political analysis is odious in the extreme, as this line of thinking is what has brainwashed countless spineless Republicans to steer clear of illegal immigration, even while the crises intensifies every day. But the political warnings Sanchez issues is without substance, and for years has been misleading Republicans into a self-destructive fear to tackle this problem.

To “support” her warning to Republicans to back away from illegal immigration (is it even possible for most Republicans to go back any further? What is less than zero?), Sanchez asserts, without a shred of evidence, that large numbers of Hispanic and Muslim suburban voters in Virginia were turned off by Kilgore’s use of the term “illegal immigration”:

Substantial numbers of immigrants (not to mention their children and grandchildren, too) hear attacks on "illegal" immigration as attacks on them -- so that a discussion of, say, day laborers can quickly turn into an anti-Hispanic free-for-all. . . Ham-fisted attacks by Kilgore and others on illegal immigrants, while political red meat for some, cause many in our coalition -- particularly Hispanics and suburban women -- to recoil.

To support her evidence-free claim that Kilgore’s use of the term “illegal immigration” was to blame for his loss, Sanchez engages in this bit of rank speculation:

Kilgore lost reliably Republican and conservative Prince William and Loudoun counties -- places where he issued a strong call for a "crackdown" on illegal immigration. Why? One reason may be that close to 15,000 Muslims -- many of them immigrants -- live in those counties, and, according to some post-election survey data, they supported Democrats by close to 30 to 1.


This is as close to “evidence” as Sanchez gets in her entire Op-Ed -- from the premise that Virginia’s immigrant Muslims voted against Kilgore, she takes the flying leap to the conclusion that Kilgore's stance on illegal immigration is what is to blame for the loss of their votes (as though Muslim immigrants reliably vote Republican in the first place, and, more absurdly, as though there are no other issues which might be important to Muslim voters and which might have turned them away from the GOP . . . hmmm. . . what other issues might those be?).

Having reached this pre-ordained destination -- where she asserts that Kilgore lost because voters didn't like his strong stance against illegal immigration -- Sanchez concludes her article by urging Republicans not to talk of the problem of “illegal immigration” at all and, instead, confine themselves to tepid references to specific policy reforms.

But one of the most disturbing and destructive aspects of illegal immigration is that it is illegal. Indeed, that is the precise attribute which separates good immigration from bad immigration. Why should Republicans, or anyone, shy away from pointing out that illegal immigration, among its many evils, is “illegal”? That is just absurd. Moreover, it is precisely the fact that illegal immigrants enter the country illegally that spawns justifiable resentment, not only among large clusters of middle-of-the-road voters, but also among the very legal immigrant population about which Sanchez is so concerned. Emphasizing the "illegal" part of this problem is what Republicans need to do more of, not less.

And beyond these cynical electoral considerations, what is the point of getting elected if the price for entrance is running away from the country’s most pressing problems? Listening to the type of advice doled out by Sanchez turns both political parties into the vague, shapeless, stagnant puddles which have been clogging up Congress for years. Fear-driven political advice like this is the last thing anyone needs more of.

The real irony here is that the problem of illegal immigration is actually one of the very few of the ever-dwindling number of issues that has the opportunity to forge common ground among factions of voters which are, these days, engaged in a ceaseless war with each other. Being worried, and outraged, about illegal immigration is not confined to the extreme precincts of conservatism. Middle-class suburban voters whose primary concerns are local and pragmatic, rather than ideological, know the danger which illegal immigration poses to their communities and to their states, and they want something done about it.

The rather extreme actions against illegal immigration taken by the Democratic governors in New Mexico and Arizona illustrate that point conclusively. The notion that our nation's laws ought to be enforced and that law-breakers should not be rewarded are not controversial ideas among most voters. The politicians of either party who show fortitude and leadership on this issue will inspire affection among this substantial and non-ideological segment of the voting population. And, not incidentally, they will have acted to alleviate one of the country's most serious and far-reaching problems. To do so, political candidates have to reject the self-defeating and cowardly advice of the Leslie Sanchez's of the world and take a strong, principled stance on this issue.

18 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:02 AM

    You nailed the problem with the GOP and immigration. Republicans have been convinced (I believe by people who don't have their best interests at heart) that they cannot do anything about illegal immigration because they will lose too many immigrant and Hispanic voters. But that is both offensive and wrong. As you point out, those groups hate illegal immigration as much as, if not more than, most other voters. And Republicans will benefit greatly from taking a strong, not a weak, position on issues like this.

    Excellent post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:48 AM

    I saw your post from a link on Real Clear Politics. You eviscerated Sanchez's stupid argument, and I congratulate you for that. I'm sick of being told that we can't enforce the law because we'll use elections. I think Karl Rove has convinced the President of that. It's both untrue and unprincipled. Thanks for showing that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous1:31 PM

    One of the clearest and most insightful pieces I've read on the immigration problem and the GOP, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous1:32 PM

    You all can preach to the choir all you want. But I am a Hispanic Virginia immigrant and loyal GOP supporter whose entire family, wife and 2 daughters voted against Kilgore precisely because of his anti-imigrant stance. President Bush has strong support among Hispanics because he recognizes our value and inclusion in the American family. When I hear a politician rant about "illegal aliens" I see a xenophobe bigot, and that's all I need to know.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous5:32 PM

    Lol, the pro-illegal pimps even find this blog to spread their contempt for the rule of law.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous5:54 PM

    1)Deduct a "medical insurance tax" out of all paychecks payable to medicare.
    2)Expand Medicare to cover EVERYONE.
    3)Buy supplemental/extra insurance for priority treatment if you want/can afford.
    4)Heavily fine employers who hire undocumented/non-contributing workers.

    Please anyone!!

    Explain why this won't work.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous6:51 PM

    Any country which does not control it's borders will cease to exist.
    The illegal aliens are just part of the problem, most of the illegal drugs entering this country are coming in from mexico.
    Do people think for one moment if this were turned around and Americans were trying to enter mexico (why would anybody want to go to that hell hole?)illegally they the mexican goverment would turn a blind eye? I think not!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous6:56 PM

    We the People are powerless to stop illegal immigration.

    However, we are bigots to oppose the mass invasion we are experiencing of people of brown skin. Admit it, man! You don't like the fact that our once true blue, red white and blue Nation is changing color right before our very eyes, in our lifetime.

    Red white and green is the future. If you oppose it, you're a bigot. And you are obsolete. And therefore, you and your kind will be politically, culturally and economically eliminated. And you cannot do a damn thing about it.

    It is too late. Our nation of Wimps are too wussie-fied to enact the sort of change necessary to stop this boulder, gaining momentum, from rolling down the mountain and crushing every patriotic notion you thought this Country stood for!

    We are becoming a nation of tribes; distinct...segregated. We will eventually war with each other to much more of an extent than we currently do.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The GOP can't follow through on immigration reform because their base needs the cheap labor.

    First, enforcement would be a night mare. You'd have to visit every construction site twice a day and check for papers. And most of the construction sites are not in the major metropolitan areas. They're out in the exurbs where the real estate speculators are building most of the MacMansions. And construction is just one industry that attracts large numbers of low skilled undocumented workers. There are also lawn services, tree services, roofing companies, moving companies, etc. All out there oppressing small business with their low cost (aka competitive) wages.

    Our little dust up near here in Herndon Virginia resulted in Minute Men type surveillance of the workers but totally ignored hundreds of small contractors that pick them up in white panel trucks.

    Second, Americans simply will not pay the higher prices that would result if the supply of immigrant workers were suddenly shut off. And the small contractors themselves would lose work without their "competitive" edge from labor-cost differential.

    My feeling is that we're not worried about the jobs so much as the shifting demographic. Low-cost labor adds to the gross national product. It does not inhibit it. The problem many of the would-be xenophobes percieve, I believe, is that they don't want to share the voting franchise with immigrants - even though they themselves are immigrants unless they are Native Americans.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous12:49 AM

    The blacks play the virtuoso "race card".... the jews play the virtuoso "anti-zionist" card, well who is surprised that mexicans have learned how to play the "bigot" card. So what? You can call me any name you want while I drag you by the scruff of you neck and toss you back across the Rio Grande. Just pray you do not make the fatal mistake of attempting to harm me or my family while I am pressing the eject button.

    Como estas' frijole?

    How you bean?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous4:06 AM

    In short, illegal immigration wreaks havoc economically, socially, and culturally; makes a mockery of the rule of law; and is disgraceful just on basic fairness grounds alone. Few people dispute this, and yet nothing is done.

    Lots of people dispute "this" -- including this conservative who usually votes GOP. It's not that I don't think illegal immigration causes problems. But I just don't see it "wreaking havoc" in the manner described. People often object with great indignation when it's pointed out that immigrants (including illegals) do jobs that Americans won't. But the fact is, Americans won't do many of these jobs. Immigrants contribute to economic growth, and they keep the country's modest population growth from sliding to European levels. And just what exactly is meant by the supposed havoc they wreak in the "social" and "cultural" realms? These people should be brought in from the cold, and immigration quotas should be expanded. I agree that illegal immigration reduces respect for the law. The same thing is true with the drugs trade. And just like with the drugs trade (or with most black markets) the answer is decriminalization.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous4:54 AM

    Sure, let's decriminalize illegal immigration. That should bring us, what, 50, 75 million more illegal third world folks for the cheap labor lobby. Some how in the 50s we controled the border, and Ike deported millions of Mexicans. I guess that was a different time, and a different people. And we wonder why the West is dying, just read these remarks on this blog by people who willing lay back and allow the nation to be invaded.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous5:50 AM

    That was an excellent post. I was going to fisk Ms. Sanchez myself, but I think I'll just direct my readers over here.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The voters are fed up with illegal immigration. Anyone who thinks that the issue will go away is naive. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party is dominated by politically correct leftists and the Republicans are strongly influenced by big business interests who want the cheap labor. Low income workers, including Hispanic Americans, are the ones hurt most by illegal immigration. The party that dares to actually do something about illegal immigration will draw a lot of votes on this issue

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous8:38 PM

    Hmmm..let's see.Swear to uphold the law as required in the oath of office,or NOT uphold the law for idealogical,political or monetary considerations.I believe we have figured out who does or does not intend to uphold the law,and the sooner they are impeached the safer we will be.How do you impeach practically the whole Congress?

    ReplyDelete
  16. RightDemocrat said it: the voters are fed up. That's all that matters. No matter that, as Servant said, illegal immigrants prop the economy up. No matter that sending illegal immigrants back and stepping up controls isn't gonna stop the influx. No matter that ranting about immigration is hypocritical for a nation of immigrants(even Native Amercians once immigrated from Asia), and a nation which invades other nations in order to install it's vision of 'democracy'.
    No, none of that matters. What matters is voters.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous6:37 AM

    Sure pd, I guess you forgot that we has static, near zero immigratin from 1924 until about 1970, such terrible times. The BIG lie of endless immigration is a joke. Here's th deal: it's our nation, if we want 10 million people immigrating a year, or 3, it's up o te citizens, not the treason-lobby.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous7:11 PM

    And no this is not a case of multiple personalities. I wrote the op-blog to Mr "pro illegal immigration" GOP dude who is making a mockery of the pro crackdown debate. This other dude is your typical Kerryite fool.
    I meant what I said and I'll come right out and say it Mexico is a racist ass country. Does anyone recall what Fox said? I won't even repeat it for fear I will wet my self from the uncontrollable laughter that would ensue. You have the ruling gueros and the darker you are the more likely you live in a tin shack in that country. Vicente Fox who mind you is a guero probably sleeps comfortably behind high walls. For anyone with any kind of money at all in that country this is the norm. Like in the U.S unless your super rich or in a metro area you don't see the overt use of concrete walls and razor wire like they do down there. Plus dogs they employ a crap load of dogs down there. With good reason. Some people will have 5 or 6 dogs of varying sizes. They also do this because you really are not allowed to shoot intruders there. They say most thiefs will ignore people who have dogs or multiple dogs.
    So here is the deal we won't build a wall if Mexico takes down all it's internal fortifications. There to this day is oppression of tribal Indians in that country southern provinces. We can go on all day long about how Mexico and Russia are about the most corrupt and racists places on Earth. Anyhow what was the debate again?

    Rogelio

    ReplyDelete