May 21st / 23rd
"Lack of Assimilation Helps to Fuel Prejudice"
Once upon a time, immigration was the number one hot button issue in
America. Then came 9/11, the recession, massive job lay-offs, exorbitant health
insurance premiums, and the escalation of two wars. Now, despite the fact
that none of those problems have been resolved or reformed, immigration is
once again our number one obsession, in part because it exacerbates the
other matters.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), those of us lucky
enough to have a job, foot the bill for illegal aliens to the tune of $2.2
billion dollars each year on food assistance programs, $2.5 billion dollars
on medicaid, and anywhere from $11 billion to $22 billion dollars on
welfare.
Meanwhile, CNN reports that we have been spending about $12 billion per
year on primary and secondary education for children who are here illegally,
and who cannot speak English.
Those who cross our borders illegally are also putting a strain on the
criminal justice system, while putting American citizens at risk. In fact,
the crime rate among illegal immigrants here in the United States is two and
a half times that of our legal population. 30% of all federal prison
inmates are illegal aliens, and it costs American taxpayers about $3 million
dollars per day to incarcerate them. And if you want something else to fret
about, Criminologist Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin says there are 240,000
illegal alien sex offenders now residing in the United States, and that during
the period of her eighty-eight month study, she estimates that they
committed over 960,000 crimes.
In all, it is estimated that illegal aliens cost American taxpayers over
$300 billion dollars each year, and that just doesn't sit well with citizens
who are out of work, have no health insurance, and who have faced
foreclosure.
It's no wonder, then, that politicians, some of whom are running for
re-election this year, have jumped on the xenophobia band wagon. For example,
gubernatorial candidate Tim James declared that if he was elected, Alabama
would no longer issue DMV exams in twelve different languages. Said James in
a recent TV commercial, "This is Alabama. We speak English. If you want to
live here, learn it!" And last week, several towns in New York adopted
English-only ordinances, proving that anger over illegal immigrants isn't
confined to the South.
But the most controversial steps have been taken by officials in Arizona.
First the legislature there passed a new immigration law that allows police
to stop anyone who looks illegal. Then, the state school board placed a
ban on the teaching of ethnic studies. These initiatives captivated public
interest and divided the nation. Elective bodies in cities like Los Angeles
and Minneapolis declared a boycott of Arizona, while Chicago area's Highland
Park high school refused to let its girls' basketball team travel to the
Grand Canyon State for an away game. That action sent Sarah Palin on the
warpath, who accused the school of hypocrisy. Last week Palin told a crowd in
Rosemont Illinois that Highland Park refused to let their team play in
Arizona, but still planned to send a group of female students on a trip to
China later this year. Said Palin, "You know how they treat girls in China? It
makes no sense."
She's right. And political gridlock isn't helping to clear up the
confusion. Liberals oppose police-state tactics in dealing with illegal aliens, yet
they have no solution for dealing with the negative economic impact that
the illegal population is having on our nation. Conservatives, meanwhile,
see detention and deportation as a solution, yet seem to have no regard for
human rights.
The fact is that the majority of those who enter our country illegally are
law abiding, hard working people. Sadly, they are often identified with
sex offenders, drug dealers, and other undesirables. But make no mistake,
these innocent illegals are also to blame for the current climate of prejudice
against them. The reason is because they are unwilling to assimilate.
Politicians who defend the rights of foreigners to enter our borders
illegally, always invoke the image of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island,
and talk about America as a melting pot. But what these apologists forget is
that our nation was built by LEGAL immigrants, whose first task was to
learn to speak English. Today a vast majority of immigrants, both legal and
otherwise, cling to their own language, and that lack of assimilation angers
many Americans, and only helps to fan the flames of hatred, mistrust, and
unrest.
Teddy Roosevelt believed that the best immigration policy was one which
consisted of both compassion and assimilation. Said TR, "...it is an outrage
to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or
origin...but there can be no divided allegiance here. We have room but for
one flag. We have room but for one language, and that is the English
language".
Roosevelt spoke those words in 1907, but his sentiments are still
applicable today, so long as we work together, and that means toning down our
rhetoric, and increasing our level of understanding. In other words, we all have
some assimilating to do.
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