Unintended Consequences?
Among the major issues facing the 110th Congress that didn't get addressed before the summer recess and which probably won't get addressed this year is that of immigration reform. Conservative stalwarts, led by the likes of Tom "Nuke Mecca" Tancredo, balked at the idea of 'amnesty' for those undocumented workers already here and killed any hope of a reasonable bill's passage. Now, the immigration debate has become more heated, more vitriolic. From today's Sacramento Bee:
Scores of organizations, ranging from mainstream to fringe groups, are marshaling forces in what former House Speaker Newt Gingrich calls "a war here at home" against illegal immigration, which he says is as important as America's conflicts being fought overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.
While most of the groups register legitimate, widespread concerns about the impact of illegal immigration on jobs, social services and national security, the intense rhetoric is generating fears of an emerging dark side, reflected in what appears to be growing discrimination against Latinos and a surge of xenophobia unseen since the last big wave of immigration in the early 20th century.
"I don't think there's been a time like this in our lifetime," said Doris Meissner, a senior fellow with the Migration Policy Institute and former commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. "Even though immigration is always unsettling and somewhat controversial, we haven't had this kind of intensity and widespread, deep-seated anger for almost 100 years."
The Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups, said the number of "nativist extremist" organizations advocating against illegal immigration has grown from virtually zero just over five years ago to 144, including nine classified as hate groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan supremacists. ...
Instead of subsiding after the collapse of Bush's immigration overhaul in June, the debate over illegal immigration has continued and seemingly escalated. As prospects for congressional action appeared increasingly in doubt this year, all 50 states and more than 75 towns and cities considered -- and in many cases enacted -- immigration restrictions, even though initial court rulings have declared such actions unconstitutional intrusions on federal responsibilities. [Emphasis added]
Mr. Gingrich's comments come as no surprise, especially during this prolonged election season. After several years of relative anonymity, he obviously felt left out of all the fun the rest of the xenophobes (such as Pat Buchanan) were having.
The really troubling aspect of all this, however, is the resurgance of hate groups on the issue. That people are beginning to listen to the KKK and the Aryan Brotherhood does not bode well for a nation built by immigrants.
The 110th Congress didn't get it done, and it looks to me like the Tancredo crowd intended the consequences.
Sad.
Scores of organizations, ranging from mainstream to fringe groups, are marshaling forces in what former House Speaker Newt Gingrich calls "a war here at home" against illegal immigration, which he says is as important as America's conflicts being fought overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.
While most of the groups register legitimate, widespread concerns about the impact of illegal immigration on jobs, social services and national security, the intense rhetoric is generating fears of an emerging dark side, reflected in what appears to be growing discrimination against Latinos and a surge of xenophobia unseen since the last big wave of immigration in the early 20th century.
"I don't think there's been a time like this in our lifetime," said Doris Meissner, a senior fellow with the Migration Policy Institute and former commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. "Even though immigration is always unsettling and somewhat controversial, we haven't had this kind of intensity and widespread, deep-seated anger for almost 100 years."
The Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups, said the number of "nativist extremist" organizations advocating against illegal immigration has grown from virtually zero just over five years ago to 144, including nine classified as hate groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan supremacists. ...
Instead of subsiding after the collapse of Bush's immigration overhaul in June, the debate over illegal immigration has continued and seemingly escalated. As prospects for congressional action appeared increasingly in doubt this year, all 50 states and more than 75 towns and cities considered -- and in many cases enacted -- immigration restrictions, even though initial court rulings have declared such actions unconstitutional intrusions on federal responsibilities. [Emphasis added]
Mr. Gingrich's comments come as no surprise, especially during this prolonged election season. After several years of relative anonymity, he obviously felt left out of all the fun the rest of the xenophobes (such as Pat Buchanan) were having.
The really troubling aspect of all this, however, is the resurgance of hate groups on the issue. That people are beginning to listen to the KKK and the Aryan Brotherhood does not bode well for a nation built by immigrants.
The 110th Congress didn't get it done, and it looks to me like the Tancredo crowd intended the consequences.
Sad.
Labels: Immigration
posted by Diane at 5:13 AM
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