Immigration Thoughts

Victor Davis Hanson has some thoughts on the similarities and differences that French and U.S. cultures are having with unassimilated immigrants. He doesn't paint an altogether positive picture however unlike many of our politicians and demagogues that are ranting to hear themselves talk, VDH out lines the problem in his usual clear prose and also some actions that should be taken to move towards a solution. Here's a sample but you should read the whole essay.

"Many in the second generation lap up their parents’ bitterness, but without the consolation that things are still better in the West than back home. This is one reason that nearly four out of every ten Hispanic high school students are not graduating from high school in four years. Of those that do, only 22.9 percent meet the minimum entry requirements of the California State University system, the less competitive of the state’s two systems. Of Latinos of all statuses in California, less than 10 percent of those over 25 have bachelor’s degrees — a legacy of their parents who in many cases came to the state without English, without education, without lawful entry, and without well-paying, secure jobs."

He also surfaces a subject that many, including the President and Congress in it's entirety is ducking, and that is the fringe groups that are offering separatists and racists solutions.

"The largest Hispanic grievance association is still called the National Council of La Raza (“the Race”), a well-meaning organization that nevertheless appeals to racial solidarity and purity and therefore separatism — a clear repudiation of the idea of American multiracialism. Its nomenclature would hardly be tolerated were it not for the enormous size of the growing Hispanic community.

In a 1997 speech before this activist group, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo bragged that “the Mexican nation extends beyond the territory enclosed by its borders” and that Mexican migrants were “an important — a very important — part of this.” A Zogby poll of Mexican citizens conducted in late May 2002 showed that 58 percent believed that “the territory of the United States’ southwest rightfully belongs to Mexico.” The national newspaper of Mexico, Excelsior, agreed: “The American Southwest seems to be slowly returning to the jurisdiction of Mexico without firing a single shot.” No wonder then that 57 percent of Mexicans in that same Zogby poll believed that they should have the right to cross the border freely and without U.S. permission."