Have you noticed an uptick in comments from anti-immigrant posters you've never seen here before? There's a reason.
A friend of mine forwarded me the latest email newsletter from the nice folks at the Federation for American Immigration Reform and they have a little article discussing the Gillibrand Senate appointment mentioning how pro-immigration groups were reacting with concern over Ms. Gillibrand's record. I happened to have been one of the first to write about the Congresswoman's immigration record and it caught their attention:
Last week's confirmation of Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of
State created a vacancy in the United States Senate. Even before
Governor David Paterson (D-NY) could officially announce that he was
appointing Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) to fill the vacated
Senate seat, the open-borders lobby came out in full force in
opposition to the Governor's choice. (Rochester Homepage,
January 24, 2009). Greg Siskind, a prominent pro-amnesty blogger wrote
that "her appointment will be extremely disappointing to the
pro-immigrant community." Siskind's blog, widely distributed on the
pro-amnesty email alert network, warns that, "Unless Gillibrand
dramatically changes her views on immigration, she will very likely
face a primary opponent when her seat is up." (Siskind's Blog Post).
It's always nice to get a compliment.
[UPDATE: Apparently, a right wing publication has picked up the FAIR story as well.
Greg,
Can you explain your use of the word "anti-immigrant" for those who against high levels of immigration. I see from your bio that you attended Vanderbilt and the University of Chicago Law School, hardly open admissions universities. Unless you were unlike most students, I assume you probably favored such restrictions even while you were a students and indeed wanted to go to those universities precisely because those restrictions made them "elite universities". This hardly made you "anti-student" even though you were willing to keep other potential students out. Similarly, the U.S. has a legal immigration system which issues roughly one million green cards a year and another one million temporary work visas. I have respect for those who came legally but at the same time I don't want to raise the number allowed in or allow those here illegally to work. This is "anti-high immigration" not "anti-immigrant" just as you were probably "anti-easy admission of students" not "anti-student".
Posted by: RK | March 22, 2009 at 05:17 PM
Jack, I don't know about celebrating (not a big fan of the apple pie), but you may want to thank you acestors for it.
Posted by: Legal and no longer waiting | February 01, 2009 at 09:33 AM
Maybe not your relationship with the law, but it reads as if your attitude toward violation of immigration law is one of condonation. 'Apple pie' sounds less like historical fact and more like breaking rules is an American value or a tradition to be celebrated.
Posted by: Jack | January 31, 2009 at 11:31 PM
Jack, you are wrong again. I stated a simple historical fact, which has nothing to do with my relationship with the law.
Posted by: Legal and no longer waiting | January 31, 2009 at 08:39 PM
'Coming to the US without asking anyone's permission is as American as apple pie and pilgrims.'
Nice respect for law you have there, Legal and no longer waiting.
Greg, Michelle Malkin was born in Philadelphia.
Posted by: Jack | January 31, 2009 at 08:10 PM
Tony - since we are going to get into a discussion of legally correct terminology regarding "Immigrants" you may want to re-check your facts on using the term "illegal aliens". A person cannot be "illegal" - they can be undocumented, without status, or present without authorization in the U.S. - but a human being cannot BE illegal. I am pretty sure our very own Declaration of Independence states "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".
Truly it is xenophobia which has created this terminology "illegal" as applied to an undocumented person in the U.S. when we don't even apply that term to our own convicted felons - we don't call them illegal criminals. We state that they are convicted felons who committed an illegal ACT - this doesn't make THEM illegal, it indicates the action they performed was illegal.
Posted by: Melissa Chase | January 30, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Look fellows..a tough law and order country such as Singapore cannot stop illegal aliens even with the threat of caning..what makes you think the US would stop illegal aliens without literally having a KGB and becoming another Soviet Union. Former President Bush and the so-called freedom loving Republicans got us half way there with wiretapping and spying on Americans plus detention without trial..but I dont think President Obama has the stomach to take it much further.
Posted by: George Chell | January 28, 2009 at 11:23 AM
@tony: "How can I be Xenophobic when my family and my wife are immigrants?"
Unfortunately, a lot of immigrants have xenophobic tendencies.
It is "I am in, now the door can be closed."
"Immigrants do NOT enter the United States illegally."
They do, and they have for centuries.
Oh, and even the current governor of California apparently was at some point illegal in the US, since he worked while on a visitor visa, as his autobiography mentions.
Posted by: JoeF | January 28, 2009 at 10:09 AM
"Immigrants do NOT enter the United States illegally."
Yes, they do, and they will, and they have for ages. Coming to the US without asking anyone's permission is as American as apple pie and pilgrims.
"How can I be Xenophobic when my family and my wife are immigrants? "
That's a very common case, actually (Lou Dobbs and our friend Roy immediately come to mind). You should talk about it with your therapist.
Posted by: Legal and no longer waiting | January 28, 2009 at 07:30 AM
Tony - We used to have a hardcore anti-immigrant poster here (longtime readers will remember him) who usually would talk about his immigrant wife and then go on and on bashing immigrants. It is not an uncommon phenomenon to see immigrants themselves extreme anti-immigration views. Peter Brimelow and Michele Malkin are two prominent examples. I've had a good chuckle in my office over the years when I have a British or Canadian or German national in my office who has been illegally present in the US for months or years and then complaining about all of the illegal Mexicans.
I call it the "slam the door behind you" philosophy.
Posted by: Greg Siskind | January 28, 2009 at 06:38 AM
Dream Act Guy - All indications are that Gillibrand will moderate her views, but it's important to make it clear that people are paying attention.
Posted by: Greg Siskind | January 28, 2009 at 06:25 AM
Don't give up on Gillibrand just yet. Much to the dismay of the restrictionists, she's already showing signs of rethinking her position on immigration. Sen. Schumer already said Gillibrand's views will "evolve" to fit New York. Gillibrand is also reaching out to Assemblyman Peter Rivera and New York immigration groups.
Posted by: Dream Act Guy | January 28, 2009 at 04:17 AM
How can I be Xenophobic when my family and my wife are immigrants? You guys are hilarious.
My wife still has a I-551. You people still call them IMMIGRANTS which is a sign of your ignorance. An immigrant is a person who enters the United States LEGALLY. Immigration officials do NOT waste their time with people with a PENDING status unless they are a criminal.
Immigrants do NOT enter the United States illegally. Come on people you pretend to be educated but I have not read one statement from any of you liberals addressing the fact that illegal aliens have entered the United States illegally which differs from immigrants.
Lastly, I also haven't heard anyone address the issue of some of these employers, who force illegal aliens to work 90 hours a week or more in poor working conditions, often times working in hazardous areas.
Posted by: Tony | January 27, 2009 at 09:09 PM
@xl: Keeping college graduates here is certainly one of the things high on the priority list: These people need to get H1s, and a fast-track to a Greencard. The current waiting times for Greencards, up to 10 years, is ridiculous and hurts the US economy.
But don't underestimate the purchasing power of illegals. I am sure lot of them have saved quite a lot of money. And since they couldn't get credit cards, they didn't live on borrowed money. Allowing them to get drivers licenses, for example, could help the car industry. And while they won't be buying $5M mansions, I am sure lots of them can afford down payments for a normal house. And their earning potential would increase when they are out of the shadows.
Posted by: JoeF | January 27, 2009 at 03:28 PM
I'm not an anti-immigrant person, but I do think one should not count on immigrants to solve the economic crisis the US is facing now. Bringing 12 million illegal immigrants out of the shadow might be a humane thing to do, but to say it'll bring our economy back to track? I don't believe it. I think what we really need to do is to try our best to retain those foreign graduates with a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) major and have them work in the US to help the US economy more competitive. I'm not saying we don't need agricultural works or butchers, I'm saying these graduates from US schools with advanced degrees and trainings we urgently need will contribute more to our economy and help it to recover faster.
Posted by: xl | January 27, 2009 at 02:53 PM
Problem is many people, particularly the xenophobes still dont get it..unless foreigners buy up property in this country, especially in places such as Arizona, we will not recover from the housing crisis and hence the economic mess for a very long time. Some millionaire and billionaire Chinese are beginning to buy it through investor visa, to the great chagrin of these xenophobes, but houses in Arizona still do not have many takers...and who can blame them!
Posted by: George Chell | January 27, 2009 at 01:33 PM
"Another Voice, I will gladly debate the immigration issue with you or any other person. Bottom line I think we need to hold our politicians and businesses accountable for their actions. This would end most of the immigration issues in our country."
Americans voted and defeated many prominent anti-immigrant politicians on November 4, 2008..Get over it!
Posted by: George Chell | January 27, 2009 at 12:11 PM
@Tony: The bottom line is that we need immigrants. What we don't need are xenophobics.
Posted by: JoeF | January 27, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Oh, "Tony, the 5 million illegal foreclosers"? I would suggest you get some education on the issue before trying to debate based on complete and utter ignorance.
Posted by: Legal and no longer waiting | January 27, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Another Voice, I will gladly debate the immigration issue with you or any other person. Bottom line I think we need to hold our politicians and businesses accountable for their actions. This would end most of the immigration issues in our country.
Posted by: Tony | January 27, 2009 at 09:30 AM
Bring it on we'll be happy to debate them and send them back to their blogs crying!!!!
Posted by: Another Voice | January 27, 2009 at 07:05 AM