As the tributes to Ted Kennedy's remarkable life and career continue let me reflect on just one of his legacies -- his role in leading the floor fight in the Senate during the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act. For generations before, entrance into the nation was tied to quotas based on so-called "national origins." Only European nations, however, received quotas -- Asians and Africans were clumped together no matter their nation of origin and their quotas were pathetically small. The reason for this was simply, racism. Even within the national quota system, preferences grounded in scientific racism favored Northern and Western Europeans over those from the south and east of the continent. Arch-anticommunists and racists in Congress during the early 1950s liked this system just fine and made minor revisions to it as the United States took leadership during the Cold War.
As Kennedy noted in an NPR interview several years ago, the historical memory of his own Irish ancestors' struggles against racial prejudice inspired him to take on the racial quota system during the Civil Rights era. While Kennedy and other immigration reform supporters did not foresee the profound increase in immigration that followed, particularly from Asia, Latin America, and Africa, they essentially created the profoundly and increasingly diverse America we live in today -- and has the son of one of those immigrants as its president.
Immigration reform and Civil Rights in the 1960s were linked by both their supporters and detractors. Kennedy stood by that link by insisting that immigration policy not give undue or exclusive preference to those with specialized skills that necessitated higher education. Kennedy's vision of an American future was one in which anyone, no matter their race or family background, would be welcomed as a citizen and considered the equal of all others. It's a beautiful vision of our nation.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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An ominous pattern is slowly emerging towards an inevitable power play on pushing another amnesty through Congress. We need to take the many consequences into consideration:
ReplyDelete1 We already had an enforceable 1986 law to stop the illegal immigrant invasion of our country, but it has been intentionally ignored? So--WHY--are they adamant in passing another immigration law?
2. Most enforcement legislation has been crushed or weakened by many of the politicians we voted into office.
3. That many of our own government members have pandered to the special interest lobbyists and not voters.
4 For decades American taxpayers have been supporting, business welfare, who have never contributed to foreign national workers. That emergency hospitals, must attend any foreign person who enters its doors, illegal or legal? ICE should be on standby and demand who that individual is working for and subsequently make the employer pay instead of the taxpayers.
5. That Democrats are downplaying that the 20 plus illegal immigrant families living here, will not have access to the health care reform package? But are not saying that if a new path to citizenship is enacted, they can automatically get health care?
6. Should a new immigration reform package is passed, what's stopping millions more poor, uneducated people storming the border.
7. Why did Sen. Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of the party try to dismantle E-Verify and under fund the border fence, so it was only a single layer instead of two tiers?
8 That E-Verification is working and working well, so no wonder the US Chamber of Commerce, ACLU, Cato Institute and a large majority of anti-sovereignty groups have been involved in lawsuits, and questionable appeasement by politicians to kill the any enforcement laws.
9. Why are we still inviting around a million new immigrants a year, when their are about 15 million jobless Americans? My health care experience was mainly in England, Germany and 15 months in Australia and prior to the mass European immigration invasion was positively first class. FIRST CLASS AND EXEMPLARY! THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS RATIONING?
Of all the states that--SHOULD--be using E-Verify, is the illegal immigrant sanctuary state of California. Illegal immigration attributed to the near bankruptcy of California and is a prime example of intentionally ignoring immigration laws. The U.S. Census Bureau projections issued in the year 2000, that the United States is precisely on track to have a population of 1.182--BILLION--in the year 2100. So much for future American population is OVERPOPULATION.
GET RAW ANSWERS AT NUMBERSUSA Contact those in WASHINGTON! NO MORE AMNESTIES. USE ATTRITION TO DEPORT ILLEGAL WORKERS THROUGH E-VERIFY, 287 G, NO MATCH SOCIAL SECURITY LETTERS AND LIGHTENING ICE RAIDS. CONTACT YOUR POLITICIAN 202-224-3121 AND DEMAND NO WEAKENING OF CURRENT 1986 (IRCA) OTHER SITES FOR INFORMATION IS HERITAGE FOUNDATION, JUDICIAL WATCH.
PS: Least we forget that Ted Kennedy RIP--NEVER TOLD THE TRUTH--when he promised their would be no more AMNESTIES, after the 1986 immigration reform act?
I self-moderate comments and as a strong advocate of free speech I let this pass. I'm quite amazed a blog with a readership in the single digits already drew this kind of attention. Nobody will be calling that number.
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