NOTE: PLEASE say if you DON'T want your name and/or email address published when sending VDARE email.

01/07/07 - A Reader Reveals (Inadvertently) The Motive For Immigration Enthusiasm

A reader writes from Texas:

I beg someone to respond to this Houston Chronicle editorial today. I am so angry that I know I will not be as skilled at this as you. Here is a snapshot of it:

"But there's little empirical evidence that Hispanics driven here by extraordinary dedication to their families pose any sort of threat to U.S. culture and values. True: Today's wave of immigrants has been slower than some groups to learn English or become citizens. This reflects geography and recent changes in immigration law—banning easy return home—more than immigrants' rejection of American values. In fact, surveys indicate, newcomers bring with them a values system that includes hard work, marriage and personal sacrifice, for which many Americans long."  Rein it in: Texas legislators should weigh illegal immigrants' economic role — and refuse to fall into a culture war, Jan. 7, 2007, Houston Chronicle

This is in response to State Rep. Leo Berman's attempt to challenge citizenship for anchor babies and his comment about loss of American culture.

"If we do nothing, in 10 years, just based on the current birth rate, we're going to have 50 million (illegal immigrants and their children) in the United States. Our country will change totally. Our culture will be gone," said state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler. "We've been invaded without firing a shot."

Illegal workers the talk of Texas By R.G. RATCLIFFE Houston Chronicle Jan. 4, 2007 

Please help Rep. Berman!

James Fulford writes: Economic immigrants aren't driven by "extraordinary dedication to their families," who have either been abandoned or dragged through the desert at the risk of their life. They're driven by a desire to make money. They have food, and jobs, and homes, in Mexico. They don't have TVs and cars, which is why they're such bad drivers.

So, OK, they want the American Dream bad enough that they're willing to sneak across the border and steal it—why does this pose a threat to US values?

Well, once you concede that Mexican values are different from American values, it becomes obvious that Mexican colonies [colonias] in America will have Mexican values. And that's not good.

Rep. Leo Berman is to be congratulated for saying what he said, and for taking some action at the state level. If Texans wait for the Bush Administration or the current Congress to take action, they'll be waiting a long time.

Email the Houston Chronicle