[Vision2020] The immigration debate

[Joan Opyr]

On May 3, 2006, at 3:01 PM, Donatelo Juan wrote:

> Something to add to the debate:
>
> The last time I was in the Moscow post office, I paused to look at the 
> most wanted list while waiting in line.  I was surprised to see how 
> many of the people on that list had  latino surnames.  When illegals 
> latino or other come into the country illegally, they have no 
> incentive to obey the laws we have and attempt to enforce.

No incentive to obey the law?  I should think fear of deportation would 
be incentive enough to avoid getting so much as a speeding ticket.  In 
my experience with immigrants, whether they immigrated legally or came 
via extralegal means, all have walked the line far more carefully than 
I do.  Until George W. Bush came along, I had no fear of being stripped 
of my rights as a U. S. citizen; no fear of becoming a person without a 
country.  In the wake of the Patriot Act, we all face that possibility. 
  Now there's something to ponder.

And here's another something to think about:  what you read on the Post 
Office wall depends on a number of factors, one of which is location of 
that Post Office.  State incarceration rates vary by race.  Do 
African-Americans commit more felonies than white people -- and by 
white, I mean you, Ed -- or are African-Americans more likely to be 
incarcerated for their crimes than are felonious whites?  Are hispanics 
more likely to be incarcerated for the same crime for which a white 
criminal might skate?  Racism.  Inequality.  Differential justice.  
These are all factors to consider.  Where in the United States are 
whites more likely than blacks or hispanics to get their asses tossed 
into jail?  Alaska.

I realize that statistics are slippery; just look at Dale Courtney's 
dubious website.  You cannot, however, make a solid argument either for 
or against hispanic immigration based on what you read in the Moscow 
Post Office.  I've read Helter Skelter.  The Manson Family was white, 
and most of its members seem to have been skinny, female, and freckled. 
  Is this a valid argument for closing our borders to anyone who looks 
like a wild-eyed female version of Howdy Doody?

> I believe that if you google latino street gangs, you will find two 
> large gangs out of Central America, MS - 13 and Mara 18.  These gangs 
> have done a fine job at becoming organized; the groups are 
> international.  In Nicaragua you can be arrested for wearing you pants 
> to low (are they still called saggs) and having tattoos.  Nicaragua is 
> fighting hard to keep these two gangs from moving in.  They are 
> violent.  They are dealing in drugs, prostitution, human trafficking, 
> kidnapping, and murder.  These gangs do not kill only in the fights 
> among themselves for territory.  They kill to make examples.  They 
> have not killed only the targeted victim, but they have also killed 
> the families.  Shooting a person does not send the message they are 
> seeking, they prefer to use machetes.  There is no doubt about the 
> message they send to the community when an entire family is cut to 
> pieces.  These two gangs are well established in USA and working to 
> control the southern boarder, from a criminal perspective.

Ever heard of the Mafia?  La Cosa Nostra?  Do you watch The Sopranos?  
Have you been to Las Vegas?  Are you familiar with Duke University's 
LaCrosse team?  We have plenty of crime right here, and criminals (and 
criminal gangs) come in all colors.  Ever heard of Meyer Lansky, the 
infamous Jewish mobster?  He was an associate of Lucky Luciano.  I 
wouldn't care to see Lansky's criminal career cited as an excuse for 
closing off all Jewish immigration to the United States.  That would be 
both foolish and unfair.  Lansky was an evil bastard, but what does 
that have to do with Jews as a whole?  Bupkes.

"Let's build a wall and arm the borders because hispanics are 
disproportionately represented on the most wanted list in the Moscow, 
Idaho Post Office" is a very bad argument.  Very bad indeed.  I'm in 
favor of legal immigration, but it isn't always realistic and it isn't 
always possible.  As long as the United States needs cheap labor, we 
will continue to draw illegal immigrants.  Forget about creating 
Fortress America.  Concentrate instead on improving the economy and 
labor conditions in this country and in the countries to our South.  
And to our West -- the next wave of immigration will be from China, 
North Korea, and other Asian countries.  In fact, it's already begun.  
We're finding people illegally (and dangerously) crammed into container 
ships arriving in Seattle right now.

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.joanopyr.com