Anderson@Large

Obama Begins Debate on Illegals in America

This afternoon, President Barack Obama will meet with a small group of Congressional leaders of both parties to discuss immigration reform. According to a White House press advisory:

The meeting is intended to launch a policy conversation by having an honest discussion about the issues and identifying areas of agreement and areas where we still have work to do, with the hope of beginning the debate in earnest later this year.

In all honesty, our immigration system isn’t broken. Instead, an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants broke the law and are now demanding the right to live in America.

While the open-borders crowd and the MSM stereotype amnesty opponents as “nativist dead-enders,” a lot of progressives oppose so-called “comprehensive immigration reform.”

A poll commissioned by Progressives for Immigration Reform found that 45 percent of self-identified progressives and liberals “somewhat oppose or strongly oppose a pathway to citizenship or amnesty for illegal immigrants currently in the workforce.”

Among the poll’s findings:

• Sixty-seven percent believe the level of population growth caused by immigration negatively impacts the quality of life.
• Fifty-eight percent think current levels of immigration are harmful to the environment.

Leah Durant, executive director of Progressives for Immigration Reform, said:

The results of this poll demonstrate what many on the political left have known for some time. Immigration is not a partisan issue. There are many progressives and liberals that are concerned about the unintended consequences that large scale immigration has on the environment, economy, and other issues that many liberals are concerned about. It is time to take this issue off the back burner. We need to talk frankly about the effects of immigration and find solutions that benefit both Americans and the global community.

In a speech before the Migration Policy Institute, Sen. Charles Schumer, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, observed:

After my many meetings with stakeholders, and other members of Congress, I truly believe that the fundamentals for immigration reform exist if we coalesce around seven key principles that the American people overwhelmingly support.

The main idea that underlies each of these seven principles is that the American people are fundamentally pro-legal immigration and anti-illegal immigration.

Schumer acknowledged:

The first of these seven principles is that illegal immigration is wrong—plain and simple. When we use phrases like “undocumented workers,” we convey a message to the American people that their Government is not serious about combating illegal immigration, which the American people overwhelmingly oppose.

Above all else, the American people want their Government to be serious about protecting the public, enforcing the rule of law, and creating a rational system of legal immigration that will proactively fit our needs rather than reactively responding to future waves of illegal immigration.

People who enter the United States without our permission are illegal aliens, and illegal aliens should not be treated the same as people who entered the United States legally.

The bottom line: Living in America is a privilege, not a “human right.” We the people decide who can legally come to the United States.

Immigration Reform and the National Interest

On Thursday, President Barack Obama will convene a twice-postponed “working session on immigration reform.”

The New York Times, which has been partly bailed out by a Mexican billionaire, editorialized:

He owes it to the Hispanic voters whose overwhelming support helped push him into the White House, and to the undocumented immigrants whose lives have been made miserable under a cruel, ill-conceived enforcement crusade that was concocted in the last administration and survives into this one.

What’s “cruel” or “concocted” about enforcing the nation’s immigration laws?

Every American knows: Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time. In plain English, don’t sneak across the border or overstay your visa if you don’t want to suffer the consequences.

Sure, Hispanics “helped push” Obama into the White House. But so did women, organized labor, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Jewish Americans, young people, gay Americans—and African Americans. Indeed, without the overwhelming support of black voters, Obama would not have won the Democratic presidential nomination.

Meanwhile, the Center for American Progress reports:

The United States and its workers as a whole are still experiencing an exceptionally weak labor market. The country has lost 6 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. Almost half of those jobs—around 2.9 million—were lost in the beginning of 2009. States around the country are inching closer to record unemployment numbers, and many face fiscal crises, which have led state leaders to cut programs that help low-income households, schools, and children…

Forty-one states—up from 39 in from April—have now surpassed peak unemployment highs from both the 2001 and 1991 recessions. And 11 states—up from eight last month—have reached rates above peak highs in the 1982 recession. Unemployment rates for North Carolina, South Carolina, and California are still the highest since 1976, when BLS first started collecting this data.

So, let me get this straight. The borders are not secure. Unemployment is at record levels. But it’s time to “clarify the status of millions who are here illegally,” who would then be able to compete for jobs in the formal economy and bring in an endless chain of family members.

Obama owes African Americans a better deal than that.

Call me a “nativist dead-ender,” but I think Barbara Jordan, chair of the bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform, was dead-on about the primacy of the rule of law.

In testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, Jordan said:

To make sense about the national interest in immigration, it is necessary to make distinctions between those who obey the law, and those who violate it. Therefore, we disagree, also, with those who label our efforts to control illegal immigration as somehow inherently anti-immigrant. Unlawful immigration is unacceptable.

The bottom line: Immigration reform must be in the interest of Americans, not illegal aliens who came to the United States in willful violation of the law.

California is Busted

I am headed to California, which is on the brink of a fiscal meltdown. The not-so-golden state is so broke it can’t buy a crippled crab a crutch.

I went to Stanford Law School because it is located in California. While I am a city girl to the bone, I enjoyed wine tastings in Napa Valley, camping in Yosemite National Park and hiking in Muir Woods.

I lived in Russian Hill for a few years after graduation. One of my favorite pastimes was walking up the hills of San Francisco.

When I went out of town, I would look back at the skyline and wave good-bye. But that was then. Now, I shake my head and think, WTF?!

San Francisco spends $180 million each year on homeless programs, but the city has lost control of its public spaces. Street people sleep on sidewalks and panhandlers are everywhere.

And get this: Illegal immigrants are given sanctuary and a photo identification card to make it easier for them to access city services.

San Francisco’s $438 million budget deficit is a microcosm of a state that is spending beyond its means.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger acknowledged that "health care and other services for illegal immigrants cost California taxpayers as much as $6 billion a year." With a projected $24.3 billion deficit, the state is expected to run out of money in July.

And as for a federal bailout, President Barack Obama and taxpayers say, No way, Jose.

Besides, the federal government is also busted.

May Day Madness

It doesn't take an Einstein to know that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

On May Day 2006, millions of illegal immigrants marched and demanded a “path to citizenship.” The march of the illegals triggered a backlash and a sharp increase in ICE raids and deportations.

In May 2006, the unemployment rate was 4.6 percent. The economy was humming along and Americans were living large inside the housing bubble.

Three years later, the unemployment rate is 8.9 percent and wages are falling. Millions of Americans are looking for work and the housing bubble has burst.

Organizers of May Day rallies are insane if they think this year’s rallies will lead to a “path to citizenship.”

I heeded Vice President Joe Biden’s advice and avoided the subway. Instead, I walked across the Manhattan Bridge to the rally in Union Square.

The turnout was small but the list of demands is long. They include:

• End the raids and deportations
• Humane and just immigration reform
• Abolish NAFTA and all free trade agreements
• No militarization of the border
• Jobs for all at union wages
• Housing for all, no more foreclosures
• Stop dividing families everywhere
• Money for people, not war, prisons or ICE detentions

Hey, why not demand a pollo in every pot.

President Barack Obama wants to get illegals “out of the shadows.” So did President George W. Bush. But, as in 2007, the American people will have the final word.

Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, observed:

The 2007 legislation was written in secret with extensive input from lobbyists. It was ultimately defeated because of overwhelming public opposition. In 2009, Americans continue to reject the idea of amnesty for millions of immigration lawbreakers and guest worker programs that would further undermine American workers and taxpayers.

Granting amnesty to undocumented workers illegal immigrants would overwhelm Social Security and DMV offices. With “papers” and a valid SSN, newly legal workers can leave the shadow economy and compete for jobs that require, for instance, E-verify eligibility.

Illegal immigrants and the open-borders lobby don’t get it. Immigration reform must be in Americans’ interest. And polls show Americans are not interested in granting amnesty to millions of poor, low-skilled high school dropouts.

What’s the Deal?

Later this week, President Barack Obama will hold a conference with the nation’s governors to discuss implementation of his economic stimulus plan:

Each state’s Governor is being invited to send their senior official working on Recovery Act implementation to learn about what programs and initiatives are available under the Act. The conference will be a chance for state officials to bring forward ideas and share best practices, as well as hear presentations from a number of Cabinet Secretaries and Administration officials, including Earl Devaney, Chairman of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board.

It’ll be interesting to see whether the Republican governors who said they will reject some of the stimulus funds will be in the room. Or will history repeat itself?

University of Chicago Prof. Michael Dawson writes:

It is often forgotten that, for all of its benefits, the New Deal reinforced structural black economic disadvantage in many ways. It is certainly true that the Work Projects Administration (WPA) put many blacks to work, and many blacks also benefited from the relief programs.

But it is also true that key programs of the New Deal consciously excluded blacks. Black farmers were excluded directly from the agricultural programs and were often forced off the land. Southern and Southwestern legislators insisted that social security legislation was written to exclude the vast majority of black and Latino workers (tenant farmers and domestic workers). The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation and its successor, the Federal Housing Administration, explicitly banned loans to neighborhoods with any blacks, thus excluding black homeowners from the main American engine for generating wealth—homeownership. It was the federal government that invented the notorious practice of redlining, the legacy of which can still be seen in the slower rates at which homes appreciate in black neighborhoods than in white neighborhoods.

Indeed, it is an open question whether African Americans will have a fair and equitable opportunity to compete for recovery jobs and contracts.

Black contractors in Kansas City, Mo., are “fed up.” Eric Wesson of The Call reports:

With millions of dollars earmarked for the urban core, black contractors are concerned that they will be left out of the selection or bid process for many of the construction projects which may result from the stimulus money and many of the projects that are underway throughout the urban core.

Meanwhile, USA Today reports:

Tens of thousands of jobs created by the economic stimulus law could end up filled by illegal immigrants, particularly in big states such as California where undocumented workers are heavily represented in construction, experts on both sides of the issue say.

Studies by two conservative think tanks estimate immigrants in the United States illegally could take 300,000 construction jobs, or 15% of the 2 million jobs that new taxpayer-financed projects are predicted to create.

If illegal immigrants take “shovel-ready” jobs from Americans, a lot of folks will be ready to reach for a pitchfork.