|
Written by Simon
|
|
Wednesday, 17 February 2010 |
|
Republicans introduced two immigrant-bashing bills in the House this
week. One would change the intent
of the 14thAmendment and the other would make it difficult for
undocumented residents to get lower “in-state” college tuition . These two ill-timed and seemingly
spiteful bills may insure that the Democrats maintain control of the House of
Representatives in the November election.
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 17 February 2010 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Written by Simon
|
|
Friday, 22 January 2010 |
|
Here is a link to an important article by Elliott Abrams What Haiti Needs: A Haitian Diaspora It appeared in the Washington Post this morning and has already spawned a massive outpouring of anti-immigrant bile. The opposition is related to no jobs, lack of skills, what's in it for us and some racism. For those who think that it is possible to reform immigration this article and the response it has engendered should give pause.
Abrams states "One of the best ways to help Haiti is to allow some Haitians to move abroad." And yet we who have so much don't want to allow it. Including as he points out Janet Napalitano. I am heartened that Abrams, an intelligent, successful, conservative proposed an idea that makes so much sense. And I'm disappointed that the knee jerk anti-immigrant comments probably show the actual mood of the country.
It will be a long struggle before we again allow reasonable levels of immigration into the United States.
|
|
|
Written by Simon
|
|
Sunday, 03 January 2010 |
|
The Novenber referendum in Switzerland that outlawed the
construction of new minarets was disheartening to advocates of increased
migration. It shows again that the
“western street” when given a choice doesn’t want to live with unassimilated
foreigners. Proposition 187 in
California in 1994 taught the same lesson. The successes of the British National Party, the Minutemen
in the USA and the National Front in France reinforce the lesson. People are instinctively tribal and conservative
about change. In the USA we
are protected somewhat from these tribal instincts by the Constitution, which
constrains legislative or populist ballot initiatives. New legislation must pass a test of its
“Constitutionality” before it can become law. This was the case with prop 187. Courts ruled that it violated the equal protection clause of
the Constitution and it was effectively gutted.
The minaret ban, however enforceable it ends up being after
its test in the Swiss courts, illustrates how much the elite’s opinion on what
to do about immigration has diverged from the electorates. Voters have shown time and again that
they don’t want unassimilated strangers living in their neighborhoods changing
their way of life and imposing cost on there institutions. Elites see migration as a long-term
good that requires some short-term pain and since they are mostly insulated
from the pain they promote getting on with it.
How can these two views be reconciled?
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Written by Simon
|
|
Monday, 09 November 2009 |
|
Twenty years ago today
after twenty-eight years of armed resistance to migration the Berlin Wall fell
on November 9, 1989 when East German government official Günter Schabowski
stated, "Permanent relocations can be done through all border checkpoints…
into…West Berlin." What
caused this change in the official East German attitude, what was its result
and what does it teach us about immigration?
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Written by Simon
|
|
Thursday, 15 October 2009 |
|
Immigrants Your Country Needs Them
By Philippe Legrain
Almost everybody can agree
that, over the long run, the world is better off because of human
migration. Think about North
America. And they can also agree
that people should be able to leave a place without opportunity like Buffalo,
NY and move to a place like San Jose, CA where they can have a better
life. But the rational
agreement ends when the immigration is happening now and the immigrants are
foreign. At an emotional instinctive level people don’t want strangers in the
neighborhood. This discordance
between people’s philosophy and their politics is one of the themes of Philippe
Legrain’s excellent book about Immigration.
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 15 October 2009 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
|
| Results 1 - 6 of 88 |