{"id":8577,"date":"2015-07-30T02:52:31","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T09:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=8577"},"modified":"2015-07-30T02:52:31","modified_gmt":"2015-07-30T09:52:31","slug":"what-true-immigration-reform-would-look-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/what-true-immigration-reform-would-look-like\/","title":{"rendered":"What True Immigration \u2018Reform\u2019 Would Look Like"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Victor Davis Hanson\u00a0\/\/ National Review Online<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
\"Immigration
Immigration reform rally in Washington, April 2013. (Alex Wong\/Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

C<\/span>an we be honest about illegal immigration?<\/p>\n

It is a common challenge to almost every advanced Western country that is adjacent to poorer nations.<\/p>\n

American employers and ethnic activists have long colluded to weaken border enforcement and render immigration law meaningless. The former wanted greater profits from cheaper labor, the latter wished more political clout for themselves.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Mexico conspired, too. It received billions of easy dollars in remittances from its expatriates in America. Mexico had few qualms about letting millions of its own citizens illegally cross its northern border into the United States \u2014 even though the Mexican government would never tolerate millions of Central Americans illegally crossing the border to become permanent residents of Mexico.<\/p>\n

For better or worse, illegal immigration is tied to race and ethnicity. No doubt, ignorant racism drives some to oppose illegal immigration. But by the same token, the advocates of open borders, many of them with strong ties to Mexico, would not be so energized about the issue if hundreds of thousands of Europeans or Africans were entering the U.S. illegally each year.<\/p>\n

There is too often a surreal disconnect about the perception of the U.S. in the immigration debate.<\/p>\n

Millions, we sometimes forget, are fleeing from the authoritarianism, racism, corruption, and class oppression of Mexico. They have voted with their feet to reject that model and to choose a completely different \u2014 and often antithetical \u2014 economic, social, cultural, and political paradigm in the United States. Somehow that bothersome fact is lost in the habitual criticism of a hospitable and magnanimous America.<\/p>\n

Then there is the matter of law. America went to war over the Confederate states\u2019 nullification of federal laws. A century and a half later, do we really want hundreds of sanctuary cities, each declaring irrelevant certain federal laws that they find bothersome?<\/p>\n

For every left-wing city that declares immigration statutes inoperative, a right-wing counterpart might do the same with the Endangered Species Act, gun-registration laws, affirmative action, or gay marriage. The result would be chaos and anarchy, not compassion.<\/p>\n

Controversy has arisen over the number of undocumented immigrants who have committed felonies or serious misdemeanors, such as the Mexican national \u2014 a repeat felon and deportee \u2014 recently charged with the fatal shooting of a young woman in San Francisco. But the furor begs the question: Why would any guest violate the rules of his host? And why is the data on such violations so hard to come by and so prone to controversy?<\/p>\n

Either the number of undocumented immigrants who commit crimes is so vast that no one knows the extent of the problem, or there are political hurdles in determining that number \u2014 or drawing politically incorrect conclusions from it.<\/p>\n

We should not minimize criminality. Creating a false identity, using a fraudulent Social Security number, and knowingly filing inaccurate federal forms are serious felonies for most Americans. They are neither minor infractions nor simply the innocuous wages of living in the shadows, but undermine the sinews of a society.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Numbers also count. When millions come to a country illegally, integration breaks down and tribalism takes over. Do we really want permanent Balkanized ethnic lobbies, frozen in amber \u2014 another century of a monolithic Asian, white, or Latino vote? Are Americans to fragment even more, as they collectively sigh, \u201cIf they vote predictably along ethnic lines, I guess I should, too\u201d?<\/p>\n

President Obama talks grandly of \u201cimmigration reform.\u201d But he apparently does not mean what most Americans would assume from that faddish catchphrase.<\/p>\n

Reform should first include strict enforcement of the border. A new, ethnically blind immigration system would select from among applicants based on skill sets and education, and consider candidates from all over the world \u2014 not on the basis of ethnic identity or proximity to the border.<\/p>\n

Immediate and lasting deportation would ensue for those who committed crimes or cynically chose to receive public assistance rather than work while here illegally.<\/p>\n

Many Americans are in favor of offering a path to legal residence to those undocumented immigrants who have long lived and worked in the U.S. and have crime-free records \u2014 after they pay a fine for breaking federal law and then wait patiently in line while the legal process plays out \u2014 as long as the border is sealed to prevent future illegal immigration.<\/p>\n

If some newly legal residents wished to become full-fledged citizens, then they could pass citizenship and English tests and assimilate into the American body politic.<\/p>\n

Somehow I doubt that this fair, reasonable process is what the president really wants.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a9 2015 Tribune Media Services, Inc.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Victor Davis Hanson\u00a0\/\/ National Review Online Can we be honest about illegal immigration? It is a common challenge to almost every advanced Western country that is adjacent to poorer nations. American employers and ethnic activists have long colluded to weaken border enforcement and render immigration law meaningless. The former wanted greater profits from cheaper […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-2el","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7658,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/illiberal-immigration-reform\/","url_meta":{"origin":8577,"position":0},"title":"Illiberal Immigration \u2018Reform’","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"People who call for \u201ccomprehensive immigration reform\u201d seldom mean it. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review Online The last thing a liberal proponent of immigration reform wants is liberal immigration reform. Remember that paradox, and the insanity at the border makes some sense. Each day a worried politician or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mexico"","block_context":{"text":"Mexico","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/mexico\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"President Obama delivers a statement on immigration reform, June 30, 2014 Photo by Mark Wilson via Getty Images","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/pic_giant_071514_A-500x291.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8008,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/voting-no-on-obamas-immigration-policies\/","url_meta":{"origin":8577,"position":1},"title":"Voting ‘no’ on Obama’s immigration policies","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ TSM Everyone finds a lesson in the Republican midterm tsunami. One message was that so-called comprehensive immigration reform and broad amnesty have little national public support. Polls have long shown that, but so do last week's election results. Candidates in swing states who promised amnesties\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "America's Future"","block_context":{"text":"America's Future","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/americas-future\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immigration reform activists in Washington, D.C., July 7, 2014. (Win McNamee\/Getty)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/pic_giant_111314_SM_Immigration-Rally-G-500x291.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7559,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/illegal-immigration-and-eric-cantor\/","url_meta":{"origin":8577,"position":2},"title":"Illegal Immigration and Eric Cantor","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review Online Eric Cantor\u2019s luck ran out, when his long insistence of pushing immigration-reform legislation finally coincided with a massive and sudden rush of thousands to the U.S. border from Central America. That lining up of the planets explains why a good but obscure\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Immigration"","block_context":{"text":"Immigration","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/immigration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":623,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/incoherent-immigration-reform\/","url_meta":{"origin":8577,"position":3},"title":"Incoherent Immigration Reform","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services Nothing about illegal immigration quite adds up. Conservative corporate employers still support the idea of imported, cheap, non-union labor \u2014 in a strange alliance with liberal activists who want the larger blocs of Latino voters that eventually follow massive influxes from Latin America.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Immigration"","block_context":{"text":"Immigration","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/immigration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7233,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-true-opponents-of-immigration-reform\/","url_meta":{"origin":8577,"position":4},"title":"The True Opponents of Immigration Reform","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Too many special interests profit from the present mess. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/\u00a0National Review Online\u00a0 Solving the illegal-immigration problem should not be hard. No one knows how many foreign nationals are residing illegally in the United States \u2014 estimates range from 11 million to 20 million. But everyone understands\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Immigration"","block_context":{"text":"Immigration","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/immigration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7856,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/what-exactly-is-comprehensive-immigration-reform\/","url_meta":{"origin":8577,"position":5},"title":"What Exactly Is Comprehensive Immigration Reform?","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ PJMedia Comprehensive immigration reform \u2014 rarely\u00a0has a catchphrase been so widely invoked and yet so little defined. Why? If proponents of so-called reform detailed exactly what they wanted, American voters would never support their self-interested agendas. Most Americans insist that existing federal immigration laws be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mexico"","block_context":{"text":"Mexico","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/mexico\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo via PJMedia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/immigration_reform_9-14-14-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8577"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8579,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8577\/revisions\/8579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}