Illegal immigrants and their allies continue to protest and chant “Si se puede!” (Yes we can). When President Bush meets with Mexican President Vicente Fox in Cancun, “the whole enchilada,” i.e., a guest worker program and amnesty for millions of illegal Mexican immigrants, will be on the table.
Since Fox wants to mettle in U.S. domestic politics, he should know the first rule of thumb among American politicians: dance with the one that brung you. Conservative voters, who support a crackdown on illegal immigrants, brought Republicans their congressional majorities. By contrast, illegal immigrants bring little more than their appetites to the table:
The National Research Council has estimated that the net fiscal cost of immigration ranges from $11 billion to $22 billion per year, with most government expenditures on immigrants coming from state and local coffers, while most taxes paid by immigrants go to the federal treasury. The net deficit is caused by a low level of tax payments by immigrants, because they are disproportionately low-skilled and thus earn low wages, and a higher rate of consumption of government services, both because of their relative poverty and their higher fertility.
The mass mobilizations will likely trigger a backlash (here and here). Consider this editorial in the New York Post:
Their cause was not helped over the past few days by the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets across the nation to protest any crackdown on illegal immigration.
Folks who have been asked to support outsiders seeking to share in the “American dream” likely were shocked by the thousands waving Mexican flags and chanting “Mexico, Mexico.”
The marches were provocative, and meant to be so.
Is it not reasonable also to see in them an implicit bid to effectively move Mexico’s border north?
It bears remembering that gays thought their provocative street demonstrations would launch a “new civil rights movement” (and here) They flouted American values (and here) and state laws, and demanded recognition of same-sex marriages. That worked out pretty well for them, didn’t it.
