September 17, 2005

Hispanic Vista's Vision Of America, And Ours

By Joe Guzzardi

Now and then, I like to check in with the other side to see what it’s touting.

One of my favorite stops is Hispanic Vista managed by Sal Osio, Sr., publisher and Chief Executive Officer and Patrick Osio, Jr., editor.

(Note: Lucky for Hispanic Vista that I check it out once in a while. I’m one of the very few who do. According to Alexa, a website that tracks Internet traffic, Hispanic Vista ranks 1, 205,143^rd. VDARE.COM ranked 39,334 as I write this).  [VDARE.COM note: which doesn’t include our blog. But it looks like all opinion sites are being forced down by burgeoning web commerce. Three cheers for the internet!]

Both Osios are native-born Californians, self-described staunch Republicans and most likely solid citizens—albeit closet Reconquistas.

Sal, a graduate of the University of Southern California Law School, is also a member of Santa Monica’s exclusive—to a fault—Jonathan Club. That’s as Republican as it gets.

Despite the strong personal and professional roots that you would think the Osios have in the U.S., Hispanic Vista is always on the opposite side of VDARE.COM when it lobbies for—as it always does—amnesty and more freebies for illegal immigrants. 

A couple of years ago, I had a few e-mail exchanges with Patrick. I got the distinct impression that he does not care for VDARE.COM’s bluntly honest coverage of illegal immigration.

But now, in a thoroughly tortured column, Patrick admits—without mentioning us by name—that VDARE.COM has been right all along about illegal immigration…even though the he insists that the U.S. really can’t do much about it.

In the opening sentence of his August 22 column Hispanics and Non-Hispanics As A Majority Agree: Illegal Immigration is Not Good for the U.S., Osio wrote:

"The U.S., or any nation, has to be able to control its borders; has to know who enters and can demand that those entering must be by permission. And it follows that if there are illegal entries into a sovereign nation’s territory, the nation has the right, indeed the obligation, to arrest and deport those entrants, and to seal its borders to prevent reoccurrences." 

And Osio—a leading voice for the Hispanic community, remember—confirms that

"A significant majority of US Hispanic citizens agree with these principles." [Patrick Osio, Jr., Hispanic Vista, August 22, 2005] 

But don’t get your hopes up too high. Osio is not a true convert. Citing the Center for American Progress’ claim that states that mass deportation of illegal aliens will cost about $200 billion over five years, Osio concludes that the expense is prohibitive by asking:

"Can the nation afford it?"

The question Osio should be asking is:

"Can the nation afford not to?"

Here’s the thing. In California alone, the annual tab for illegal immigration is $10 billion minimum. (For details, e-mail me.)

Over the last twenty-five years, costs related to illegal immigration in California and the other forty-nine states have gone in one direction only—up. Over that quarter of a century, the total bill nationwide is in the hundreds of billions.

And without drastic and immediate measures, like deportation and/or a sealed border, costs will continue to soar.

Let’s be serious. If the federal government can spend $1 billion a week in Iraq for the foreseeable future without any assurances of success, then it can spend $200 billion to deport aliens to keep the beleaguered American taxpayer from footing their bills indefinitely.

And if the U.S. can mobilize troops and send them into combat half way around the world in Iraq and Afghanistan, then it can easily increase border protection.

If patrolling the border is so impossible, maybe Patrick can answer this question posed by my VDARE.COM colleague Edwin S. Rubenstein: "How Come We Can Have 40,000 Miles of Interstate but Not 2,000 Miles of Border Fence?"

What makes Osio’s position so weak is that an all-out effort at mass deportation is the ONLY thing that has NOT been tried to end illegal immigration.

We have done amnesty and guest worker programs. The result: more illegal immigration.

To Osio—and Senators McCain, Kennedy / Senators Kyl and Cornyn—who simply throw their hands up in the air and say deportation is not feasible, I say: let’s give it shot!

In the meantime, and in anticipation that Osio will continue to argue against meaningful enforcement of the law, I recommend he at least practice the basics of sound journalism.

In Osio’s column, he wrote that (opponents of illegal immigration) describe them (aliens) as:

" ‘Third world scum,’ ‘terrorists,’ ‘rapers of our women,’ and, as Rep. Tom Tancredo leveled, ‘they are here to kill you and me’"

Since Osio did not provide us with any citations other than Tancredo, who knows when, where or if those statements were made.

What Congressman Tancredo actually said, in Nashua, New Hampshire, was that while some illegal aliens come to work, others are "here to kill you and me." ["Immigration’s U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo’s Top Topic," Dan McLean, Manchester Union-Leader, June 12, 2005]

That is an all-together different statement.

But even if you accept Osio’s incomplete quote of Tancredo’s speech, does anyone really want to argue the Congressman’s point?

Before challenging Tancredo, Osio should check the police blotter in his own hometown of San Diego.

Here are nine of San Diego County’s Top Ten Most Wanted:

Gerardo Gomez (murder), Jose Lopez (murder), Ricardo Reyes (murder), Omar Maldonado (murder), Elio Sosa (murder), Rigoberto Leon Nino (vehicular manslaughter), Leonard Castro (parole violations/burglary/forgery), Eddie Galindo (terrorist threats), Jose Jimenez Alfredo (child molestation).

You won’t find those guys at the Jonathan Club—unless they’re lurking in the parking lot waiting to blow your head off if you don’t give up your wallet.

And if Osio needs further proof of the criminal nature learned in Mexico and often brought North, he can reread his own Mexico-based columnist, Richard N. Baldwin T. who wrote that:

"So, out of every 1,000 crimes, 117 crimes get actually reported. And due to paperwork mistakes, only 12 of these are even investigated. The bottom line is that out of 1,000 crimes committed, there is only one conviction." (The Crime Structure of Mexico, Richard N. Baldwin T., Hispanic Vista, September 8, 2005)

No one—at least no one on VDARE.COM—has ever written that everyone who comes to the U.S. is bent on murder and mayhem.

But for Osio to deny that a significant criminal element crosses the border is willful blindness.

And that brings me to my final point about the horribly misguided Osios.

Here are two guys who have spent virtually all of their adult lives in Southern California. And they still can’t smell the bacon.

Illegal immigration has been a disaster for Los Angeles—Sal’s hometown—and San Diego where Patrick resides.

(e-mail Sal here ; e-mail Patrick here)

But what’s Hispanic Vista’s biggest gripe? If you guessed the Ten Most Wanted or any of the other social chaos caused by illegal immigration, you’re wrong.

But if you answered: "Tom Tancredo"—congratulations!

Truly—I don’t get it. California is falling into the Pacific Ocean. And these two Osio guys are in a non-stop lather about a Colorado Congressman.

Patrick, Sal…fellows, come on. Just admit you’ve been wrong!

A simple statement that the overwhelming facts make it impossible for you to defend illegal immigration any longer, intellectually or emotionally, is enough for us.

Over here at VDARE.COM, we’re big-hearted.

We won’t hold your years of foolishness against you.

In fact, latecomers though you may be, you’re always welcome in our camp.