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States of Disunion Diane AldenThis article is the third in a five-part series on immigration in America.
Part I: Dumping the Third World on the West Before the Immigration Act of 1965, approximately 250,000 immigrants a year came to the US. Since that time, however, we have added nearly 35 million immigrants, mostly from the Third World and Mexico, very few from Europe. That amounts to an addition of the entire population of Canada or Central America to the United States. Most of them have arrived within the last 10 to 20 years. To add to a growing imbalance, we have turned well-intentioned efforts like affirmative action, set-asides and social welfare policies into a feeding frenzy for any Third World resident who can get here. Additionally, if you are wise, don’t fall for the propaganda generated by the open borders crowd that asserts that immigrants pay more in taxes than they consume in services. In his essay “The High Cost of Immigration,” Jon Dougherty reports that “immigrants pay around $95 billion in taxes, they consume about $145 billion in public services. That's a net cost about $50 billion, or one-sixth of the Bush administration's projected budget deficit for fiscal year 2004. Economically speaking, therefore, America derives no benefit by continuing its ‘open borders’ policy.” (Stats from Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform) The attorney general recently estimated the number of illegal aliens within the United States at between 3 million and 6 million. Other estimates are between 9 million and 13 million. Among those are 300,000 immigrants who have overstayed their visas and whose whereabouts are unknown. The law is clear: According to the U.S. Code, Title 8, illegal aliens may be “physically expelled” at any time. To use the code’s actual wording, such persons are subject to immediate “removal.” The federal government does next to nothing, however, to implement that law to any lasting effect. There are a few raids here and there, but they do not count as POLICY. The feds are too scared to be effective or they are complicit in setting us up for decline and disintegration. Meanwhile, the individual states are literally forced to pay the social costs of federal failure to halt immigration, reform immigration or remove those who come here illegally. The High Cost of Cheap Labor Much of the national distress over immigration comes from the way in which immigration is impacting the lower and middle classes. Wages are depressed and benefits for everyone, including recent immigrants, are being set back. In addition, the terrible corruption of the visa system makes the rule of law a joke. The attitude prevails that the same status should be given to legal and illegal “residents” as is due to citizens. The FBI refers to them as “preferred minorities.” This point of view is one of the major factors leading to Sept. 11, 2001. It should be a national scandal. Meanwhile, we are no longer able to defend our borders or maintain them against the invasion of hundreds of thousands, millions actually, who arrive each and every year. Only last week a Border Patrol agent was found unconscious, beaten senseless by illegals attempting to cross the border. Ranchers and locals in border states have taken up patroling themselves, since the federal government offers no effective means to do the job. The rationale for all this is partially based on the fact that our economic and political elite determined long ago that the independent unique nation-state is a thing of the past. In addition, they promote the theme that life is nothing but a series of economic decisions and realities and all decisions hinge on that. Open borders and markets, which they control, are the mantra. Meanwhile, they feel no compunction about manipulating the law, as they demand repeated waves of immigrants to keep costs down at the expense of wages. What they want includes the expansion of government as well as the creation of voting blocs. That makes the left, the immigration lobby and Democrats happy, while establishment Republicans receive support and contributions from the cheap labor lobby, therefore giving in to their demands. In 1999, for instance, corporate America asked for and received the expansion of the H-1B visa. That will bring up to 200,000 unnecessary and CHEAP programmers and engineers into the U.S. per year. They fill the places of fired and out-of-work American programmers and engineers. There is a surplus of technical graduates in the U.S. However, corporate America claims there is a shortage and continues to ask for more from India and Pakistan, in effect creating a class of imported indentured servants, in the process shrinking the native-born middle class. The cheap-labor lobby’s next requirement is to bring in low-cost medical personnel, in the form of nurses, to fill one more phony shortage. They say it is to keep costs down, but they simply pass the costs to the taxpayer and the individual states, and forget the high cost as they hurry along the disintegration of the social fabric. (See "H-1B: Bombing the Middle Class.") Sadly, very few in the economic or political elite are discussing the impact of unrestricted immigration on the middle class or the impact it has on American blacks. The late Vanderbilt professor, historian and expert on civil rights Professor Hugh Davis Graham wrote a seminal work dealing with the head-on collision between civil rights and immigration. In “Collision Course: The Strange Convergence of Affirmative Action and Immigration Policy in America,” Graham maintains that the surge of 35 million new immigrants to America, 26 million of them Asian or Latin American, found themselves beneficiaries of special treatment as “official minorities.” Over a short time in the ’70s, they became preferred minorities who were allowed affirmative action preferences across the board. Affirmative action was primarily intended for African-Americans. Instead much of the benefit meant for them was transferred to recent immigrants. Meantime, employers acting under affirmative action and fearing public interest lawsuits hired millions of immigrants while they failed to address high unemployment among inner-city blacks. As Graham reveals in his book, blacks are no longer the chief beneficiaries of affirmative action. In 1995, for instance, they owned only three of the top 25 firms receiving federal set-aside contracts. Immigration effectively turned affirmative action into a policy that places the status of recent immigrants above that of native-born Americans. Peter Brimelow, author of “Alien Nation,” writes for Forbes magazine and Vdare.com. In effect, his research supports part of Graham’s contention regarding immigration and affirmative action. Brimelow relates, “Nobel Laureate economist Gary S. Becker's acknowledgement that the welfare state, which did not exist during the last Great Wave of immigration (1890-1920), has fatally altered immigrant incentives, making open borders impractical.” Nonetheless, President Bush remains a huge supporter of the concept of open borders; never mind that 77 percent of the American people do not accept this as an American priority. Furthermore, James Fulford reports in his essay, “Why Not Just Give Them a Roomful of Gold? Or: Immigration – Just Another Government Program,” states: “I found an email in my inbox saying that the reason so many small motels are owned by Indian immigrants named Patel was because the US government was financing them. I didn't believe it. I cynically assumed it was some kind of legend, made up by people who don't like immigrants. … I should have been more careful where I pointed my cynicism. I should have kept it aimed at the US Government, where it belongs.” Immigrants are using the system, often promoted by federal policy and driven by the immigration lobby, including activist groups like La Raza. A big-ticket item for tax dollars for recent immigrants is the federal home mortgage system. As Fulford discovered in his research: “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been lending to resident aliens too, although allegedly insisting that they be legally resident. And Fannie Mae now has a home mortgage program designed to provide mortgage loans to illegal aliens. Cheap!” Even affirmative action for immigrant “residents” of the U.S. has a weird imbalance. In “Collision Course,” Professor Graham writes about what he calls the “Khyber Pass” syndrome. While hundreds and thousands of Indians, Pakistanis and Indonesians will get SBA loans and set-asides, Iranians and Turks may not. It all depends on earlier lawsuits. Immigrant groups winning most affirmative action SBA lawsuits in the past were from the Far East. Land of 10,000 Confusions The state of Minnesota is required to take in 16 percent of all federal asylum seekers and refugees. In addition, it has a huge and growing population of uninsured legal and illegal Hispanic agricultural workers who toil for corporate agribusiness for low wages and no benefits. Estimates are that there are 70,000 green card holders and 60,000 illegals without legal documentation working in Minnesota agribusiness. Corporations insist that cheap labor brings down costs for the consumer. What they don’t say is that the state taxpayer picks up the tab for medical benefit costs and education. Our national Tower of Babel now requires hiring squads of language experts for education and social services in order to accommodate approximately eight to 26 languages and dialects spoken in Minnesota. In Minnesota, agribusiness Green Giant’s bottom line may be enhanced by the state picking up the cost. However, it doesn’t do much for Tim Olsen and his 3 kids in Anoka. In other words, agribusiness and much of the rest of the cheap labor lobby robs Peter to pay Jose. Minnesota has approximately 4.9 million people. In the last 12 to 15 years, a state with a relatively small homogenous population has had to absorb over a quarter million immigrants and refugees. Among them are 60,000 Hmong political refugees. The Hmong are one of the most primitive groups of people on the planet. More recently, Minnesota has had to embrace 15,000 Muslim Somalis who left Africa in order to escape death by crazy warlord. Even more recently, Minnesota finds itself home to Somalis fed up with the lifestyle and gang infighting they endured while they were residents of California. Just last year, the state of Maine also discovered itself being inundated by Somalis who couldn’t take the way of life as lived in “multicultural” Atlanta. Lewistown, Maine, for instance, found its budget busted by an influx of a thousand Somalis, mostly women and children, in a small town with a small budget. The social welfare and educational infrastructure was swamped. Thanks to the immigration lobby, new asylum seekers and immigrants quickly discover where the gravy train is still running. Maine and Minnesota, as well as California and Texas, are among the states where this is so. Additionally, Minnesota has also taken in 6,000 Russians and 125,000 Hispanics, plus numerous legal immigrants who made the Land of Lakes their destination. (Numbers from the Minneapolis Foundation and U.S. Census, and NumbersUSA) Minnesota offers generous benefits and a politically correct climate, chiefly in the Twin Cities. All this attracts what amounts to groups of politicized economic immigrants. Most of them quickly learn how to use Minnesota Care (health care) as well as a vast number of transfer payments available, affirmative action and set-asides, and the education system. There are hundreds of activists and immigration lawyers willing to show them how. Nevertheless, Minnesota likewise has a really BIG problem. It is a $4.5 billion budget deficit, which extends into the foreseeable future. It doesn’t help that costs for uninsured asylum seekers and refugees along with the costs of educating immigrant children are growing. As it is, Minnesota went from having to address the needs of around 11,000 non-English-speaking immigrant children in 1990 to over 45,600 today. Moreover, The Uninsured Study Advisory Committee of Minnesota reported last year that African American and Hispanic women in Minnesota under the age of 20 have the highest illegitimate birth rate in the U.S. Hispanics have death rates higher than whites. Their rates of AIDS and HIV are 7 times those of whites, cirrhosis rates are twice as high as whites, their rates of diabetes are 2.5 times those of whites, and Latinos are 3.5 times as likely as whites to be the victims of homicide. These stats were obtained from an organization trying to help immigrants get access to health care. Groups like this exist to make it easier to find and receive benefits of one sort or another. All these factors do not create conditions for social cohesion, progress, or community OR individual health. Social “justice” and “progress” are seldom obtained by throwing money at people. Only a change in the cultural mindset of a group can do that. This entire debate is not about race or xenophobia. It is not about whether a particular group of individuals is worthy or unworthy, good or evil, hard-working or lazy. In fact, many “residents” of the U.S. work very hard indeed. This debate also shouldn’t be about merely economics, work or numbers. In last fall’s issue of Minnesota's Rake magazine, Macalester College history professor Mahmoud El-Kati discussed the problems between new immigrants and those who already live here. According to El-Kati, the larger difficulty is not between Minnesota's white community and Somalis, for instance, but between native blacks and recently arrived black Somalis. He states, "Conflicts are too often dismissed with comments such as "Why can't black people get along?" Because they can't, says El-Kati. "[T]hey can't get along because most don't know the first thing about each other. How could they? They're from two different worlds." What's more, race is a myth, El-Kati says. "It's a false consciousness that we've been living under for years. The arrival of so many more black people in this country may finally make it obvious that race is not an indication of who people really are. What unites people is culture. But that's much more complicated to learn about and understand. ... The trouble starts as these new groups assimilate, often finding themselves pitted against this country's poorest citizens in a struggle for leftovers." "What unites people is culture." Wish our leaders could figure that out. Gangs of Minnesota As Minnesotans and communities around the country are realizing, Somalis and Hmong, or any recent immigrant group, for that matter, are not immune to criminal activity. Just as they were in the 1800s and early 1900s, young immigrants are particularly susceptible to gang activity. Immigrant gang warfare has erupted in Atlanta and Minneapolis, Memphis and Tacoma, as well as Los Angeles and Seattle. Sundry task forces, like the Minnesota Drug Task Force, find that as young people from new immigrant groups become "Americanized" they form gangs of their own. As Minneapolis Police Chief Olson said, “Then the problem becomes more complicated.” In addition to more traditional black, Latino and white gangs, Minneapolis is also now facing gangs of American Indian, Somali and Hmong youth. The problems are compounded by the addition of new drugs like Khat. That is the drug of choice in the Somali community. In just the last few years, the U.S. Customs Service has made several large busts at local airports confiscating immense quantities of several prohibited drugs geared toward the tastes of immigrants, drugs originating mostly in Belgium and The Netherlands and imported by the Russian Mafia living as "residents," or legals, in America. Minneapolis and Minnesota were once relatively crime-free, and murder was rare. Sad to say, however, in the last 25 years that has changed drastically. Thanks to an increase in gang warfare between immigrant gangs and the homegrown variety, Minneapolis became know as “Murderapolis.” Funny thing – before Minnesota became one of the dumping grounds for Third World’s refugees and before surrounding states sent their criminal and welfare problems, Minnesota was about as peaceful, unified and prosperous as life on this planet gets. Although the record shows extensive efforts by diverse groups of police and social action agencies, Minneapolis’ murder rate has come down only a little the past two years. However, drug running and drug usage are increasing, and immigrants supply one more market. And the Beat Goes On While illegals are not allowed to accept welfare, they do receive medical care at emergency rooms. In addition, Supreme Court decisions like Plyler v. Doe require states to provide illegal and well as legal immigrants with public schooling. Meanwhile, green card holders, legal residents, make use of affirmative action set-asides that were not intended for them under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, claiming the “long-term discrimination” clause should apply to them. Far too many are receiving the benefits of citizenship without many of the responsibilities. Others consider milking the system as their birthright or as a game played with the system. The attitude prevails that America is a rich country and can afford it. According to John Wang, a criminal justice professor at California State University in Long Beach who studied Medi-Cal fraud in Asian communities, "To an immigrant, if there is no official reaction or sanction or punishment, then they consider it legal or implied legal because there is nobody stopping them." (San Diego Union Tribune, Dec. 2, 1999) Individual states are being hammered, because illegal immigrants do not usually have health insurance. Seldom does the cheap-labor lobby provide it. Therefore, illegals flood emergency rooms in California and border states. Even states like Minnesota and Maine are faced with deficits made worse by hundreds of millions paid out in fees for services for illegal and legal residents, asylum seekers and refugees. This creates a crisis to which the federal government turns a blind eye and which the federal courts make worse. In California alone, emergency departments operate at a loss. A study by the California Medical Association found that 82 percent of the state's 347 emergency rooms lost money in 2000. Altogether, ERs lost $325 million, while emergency physicians lost another $110 million providing uncompensated care. Farm workers and people working in the tourism, service and retail industries – which often don't provide benefits – make up the bulk of the county's uninsured. (Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 17, 2002) The National Research Council reports that most government expenditures on immigrants come 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. How can this happen, you ask? The fact is legal and illegal immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees may receive some form of social benefit because they are “persons.” Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and through the Supreme Court rulings of extremely leftist judges like William Brenann, they get a free pass. In fact, the Brennan court created a new weird entitlement in the case of the 5-4 majority in Plyler v. Doe. Even weirder is that fact that a significant factor in Brennan’s decision was based on the fact that the federal government does not have control of the borders, especially the border with Mexico. In his excellent series of articles at www.vdare.com, Howard Sutherland chronicled the impact of federal courts on individual states, particularly under the reign of leftists like William Brennan. Sutherland discusses the case of Plyler v. Doe, which was a class action suit brought on behalf of Mexican illegal aliens against the state of Texas, the Texas Education Agency and various Texas school districts. In its finding, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas statute withholding from local school districts any state funds for the education of children who were not legally admitted into the United States. The final reason Brennan offers for forcing a new entitlement responsibility on the state of Texas is truly a perversion inflicted on the states courtesy of the federal bench. Brennan concluded: “Sheer incapacity or lax enforcement of the laws barring entry into this country, coupled with the failure to establish an effective bar to the employment of undocumented [sic] aliens, has resulted in the creation of a substantial “shadow population” of illegal migrants – numbering in the millions – within our borders. … It would of course be most difficult for the State to justify a denial of education to a child enjoying an inchoate federal permission to remain. " In other words, since the federal government doesn’t do anything about preventing illegals from entering the U.S., nor does it make a viable attempt to remove them, therefore that population of illegals has a fundamental right to an education courtesy of the taxpayers of Texas. We can extrapolate that decision to other areas of social costs. Because of such decisions, states go on the defensive to prevent lawsuits on other issues. California and Minnesota have already been sued several times by “public interest” lawyers in their quest to accommodate the growing needs of legal and illegal immigrants. (There are nearly 20,000 immigration lawyers and they all have an ax to grind.) Absurd decisions made by inconsistent federal courts, and public interest lawsuits that benefit recent immigrants, no end to the numbers accepted, mean the states are forced to pick up the costs of unfunded federal mandates. Keep in mind that the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) calculates that there are more than 8 million illegal aliens living within our borders, with more than a million more expected to be here by the end of 2003. As a consequence, the body politic has to make some serious decisions, one of which may be to pull the teeth of federal courts, as Congress could do if it desired. Federal courts are NOT necessarily the last word. They have the last word because Congress is content to allow them to legislate from the bench. This makes immigration reform, or any reform of regulations and laws, nearly impossible. In light of all that, the major burden of costs for immigration must be picked up by the states. If you are going to blame someone for the mess, go after YOUR congressman and senators. Continue to pressure the Bush White House to do some serious investigation using outside investigators to study the impact of immigration on the working poor, the states and the middle class. Forget the federally associated National Science Administration. Government-associated “scientists” crunch numbers in favor of policies that the federal leviathan favors at the moment. Cracking Up Wave after wave of immigration disallows sufficient time for assimilation to take place. In addition, the divisive anti-West, anti-white, anti-American attitudes prevalent in a majority of our schools and universities does not bode well for creating cohesion and a unified body politic. All this comes about because of the widespread supposition that the nation-state is passe and that America and the West are responsible for all the evils in the world. We are also confronted by the shortsighted folks who believe America is nothing but a market for the buying and selling of goods and services. It is maddening and self-destructive that the establishment of both left and right harbor the conviction that the world is nothing more than one large open economic market or playground of identity group politics. Both sides harbor the notion that human beings are commodities or pawns in group power politics. At the moment, open-border lobbies from the left and the right and transnational corporations are going to set the agenda. Politicians will simply do their bidding. Going, going, gone is the understanding that America has a unique philosophical, moral, spiritual and social aspect. Politicians must be convinced that “We are not JUST the economy, stupid!" While a vast majority of Americans are begging for immigration reform, only a few leaders such as Tancredo, Gekas and Sensenbrenner are facing the issue head on. They are almost alone. Both political parties seem more interested in money or power obtained from special interests than they are in reforming immigration. At the same time, as a people struggling to remain united, we continue to self-destruct, and THEY call it compassion and the free market. Call it what you will – but call a halt to it before we are destroyed from within.
(For those who want more info on H-1B visas and potential lawsuits to end the practice, contact: usaworker@hannatroup.com Part IV: America for Sale: Visa Roulette
References and Sources
To comment, write alden@newsmax.com or visit my Web site at www.aldenchronicles.com.
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