In addition, I would argue that much of so called “cheap labor” satisfies the elitist and extravagant lifestyles of Americans. The pompous and vain American primps himself in his Ivory Tower whilst the dark skinned folk dig about the gardens and polish the automobiles. Can’t people do a little gardening and auto care themselves? Do people really need all the widgets that business production rolls out?

Michael said:

“if we’re not enforcing the Simpson-Mazzoli laws (among other immigration stautes) already on the books, what makes anyone think that we won’t be back at this problem trying to come up with a new “solution” in 10-20 years?”

Exactly. The law is there. It just isn’t enforced.

Lastly, in addition to all the problems with immigration mentioned in posts above, there is an overpopulation problem which should be addressed. With too many people wanting too much stuff, the result is simple – imbalanced lives cause all sorts of difficulties.

That’s why the immigration problem will never be solved adequately, because Americans are addicted to wanting quantity over quality. Politicians want the illegal’s vote, business people and consumers want the cheapest price, and the quality of life suffers with every street corner filled with 6th grade education Latinos and every store swamped with Mexico and China made junk.

we are the only country to open up our way of life for every one on the planet to aspire… and the only place worthy of the name “superpower”.

it doesn’t just mean military might. we share our blessings with the world, we ask only that the world appreciate what we give by playing by our rules.

teeman

jmho.

teeman

I agree that some illegal immigrants come here solely to take advantage of our government benefits. Most, however, come here to work. It would be a much better solution to simply cut off government benefits from any illegal immigrants, however, instead of trying to keep all of them out.

As to the language and assimilation issue, Latino immigrants assimilate the same as any other immigrant group. The first generation usually keeps its native language, the second generation is bilingual, and the third generation is monolingual. Those who are coming here for a short period to return home usually don’t assimilate. That was true with Italian immigrants last century and its true now. Furthermore, I don’t know why people get so upset by the fact that some people speak Spanish in public. They aren’t hurting you, so why does it offend you to hear Spanish spoken in Wal Mart?

As you say, the GOP did have a choice to make. It made the wrong one. It disappointed members of its libertarian wing (such as myself), its business wing, and it offended a growing Latino electorate. The GOP has to expand and adapt to the changing demographics of our nation. Simply appealing to grumpy old white guys (as it did here) dooms the GOP to minority status. Furthermore, taking xenophobic stands like this alienates younger voters like myself who are much more comfortable with the changing face of the nation than it seems our older brethern are.

Overall I think a lot of the problems are caused by those who don’t come here to work but simply to take advantage of our generous benefit system. And even those that work do nothing to assimilate into the culture. If you were to go work in France I assume you’d make some effort to learn French before you go. But I walk through Wal-Mart and a good percentage of the customers are jabbering in Spanish a thousand miles from the border. Sad thing is that Wal-Mart caters to them anyway; then again, money talks loud in any language.

As an answer to your final argument, we in the GOP have a choice to make. We can run the risk of alienating a group of people who may or may not become citizens and if they did would likely vote Democrat anyway (as most poor minority folk seem to do) or we can certainly alienate an existing base of voters who have the concern that the GOP doesn’t have the backbone to stand up and demand that this new wave of immigration act like our forefathers did and adapt to the American culture. As far as why the grassroots took its stand now, perhaps the sight of Mexicans marching through L.A. (and many other cities) waving their national flag but demanding rights that should be reserved only for American citizens may have had something to do with it.

And I find it amazing that this was the issue where the grassroots decided to come alive. We had a variety of legislation that is quite harmful to our country — Medicare Part D, out-of-control appropriations bills, etc. — pass in the past few years and you heard nary a peep from folks. You had an effort to reform Social Security and the grassroots did nothing. Now, on an issue to change our laws to reflect economic reality, the grassroots goes wild? It boggles my mind that people get so outraged about some Mexicans who want to come here and work but they sit on their butts while Congress and the President destroy the fiscal health of the nation.

Also, as I stated in my previous comments, this is a pretty poor issue politically for the GOP grassroots to take a stand on. It’s pretty easy to perceive the opposition to this as a bunch of racists (again, I’m not saying it was motivated by racism, but the perception is certainly out there). By doing this, the GOP risks alienating the largest growing minority group in the nation. As happened in California with Prop. 187, Latinos may be a lost cause for the GOP for at least a generation because of the irrational hatred some in the GOP have for illegal immigrants.