HispaniCon

Mexico Elections

2006-05-26T09:14:00.000-05:00

From the Wall Street Journal (subscription):

On July 2 Mexico will hold the most closely contested presidential election in its history. That in itself wouldn't be a problem if all the candidates were committed to the democratic process. But in recent weeks two of the three main campaigns have jointly pledged to challenge election results in the streets with massive unrest if their candidates don't win. If that happens, Mexico will be thrown into chaos and Mexicans will be the losers...
This situation would weaken the country's institutions, raise uncertainty and fears of anarchy, with potentially serious financial instability and economic disarray. Emigration would mushroom. The long awaited Mexican miracle of fast growth and job creation -- stemming migratory outflows -- would be lost for at least another six years, if not for much longer.

Immigration Bill Passes Senate

2006-05-26T08:50:00.000-05:00

From the Arizona Daily Star:

Landmark legislation to secure U.S. borders and offer millions of illegal immigrants a share of the American dream cleared the Senate on Thursday, a rare election-year reach across party lines and a triumph for President Bush.
The 62-36 vote cleared the way for arduous summertime compromise talks with the House on its immigration measure, which focuses on border enforcement, with no guarantee of success. Republicans and Democrats said energetic participation by Bush would be critical.

Now the hard part begins...

Mayor Bloomberg on Immigration

2006-05-25T16:37:00.000-05:00

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has some excellent ideas of a touchy subject.

Cries from the Border

2006-05-25T08:06:00.000-05:00

A film about illegal immigration and its effects on border communities is alienating people of both sides of the immigration debate. It's called "Cochise County USA, Cries From the Border."

Joined at the Hip

2006-05-25T07:56:00.000-05:00

From the Wall Street Journal (subscription):

Since Evo Morales took office as president [of Bolivia] in January, the coca grower turned socialist politician has aligned his country so closely with Venezuela's Hugo Chávez that it is sometimes difficult to tell where one government begins and the other ends...
The two countries recently teamed up with Cuba in a Free Trade Agreement of the People, a pact dreamed up by Mr. Chávez as a poor man's alternative to a U.S. plan for hemispheric integration. Venezuelan technocrats help set Bolivian policy on everything from health care to land reform to nationalizing the oil and natural-gas industry. When Mr. Morales travels outside Bolivia, he uses a jet provided by Caracas.
Bolivian opposition leader Jorge Quiroga, who lost to Mr. Morales in the presidential race, contends that "we have become a colony of Venezuela." Mr. Morales rejects that accusation, but refers to Mr. Chávez as Bolivia's "godfather."

Remittances to Mexico

2006-05-23T08:22:00.000-05:00

From the Wall Street Journal (subscription):

Mexicans in the U.S. sent an estimated $20 billion back home last year, most of that to their own families. But to hear American critics tell it, these voluntary, private transactions are actually a curse. They are said to be "subsidies" that prevent Mexico from confronting its own lousy economic policies. But this is an argument with more holes than the border fence that Congressman Tom Tancredo (R., Colo.) wants to build.
It's certainly true that Mexico could do more to free up its economy and invite foreign and domestic investment... But foreign "remittances," as these expat cash flows are called, are a force for economic and political good. As an economic matter, they flow directly from individuals in the U.S. to private individuals or businesses south of the border. This cuts out the government middleman and provides capital immediately for private investment or consumption.
Mexicans use the money to start new businesses, improve their homes and educate their children. In this month's issue of the Cato Journal, World Bank economist Simeon Djankov and two other authors find that while "remittances have no direct effect on economic growth," they do "have a significant and positive effect on investment, without having any effect on government consumption." The authors found such private forms of aid far more helpful than traditional, government-led foreign aid, which they argued had "discouraging" results. What would anti-remittance American conservatives prefer for Mexico: more World Bank loans?

Chávez the Divider

2006-05-22T08:11:00.000-05:00

From the New York Times:

As Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, insinuates himself deeper in the politics of his region, something of a backlash is building among his neighbors.
Mr. Chávez — stridently anti-American, leftist and never short on words — has cast himself as spokesman for a united Latin America free of Washington's influence. He has backed Bolivia's recent gas nationalization, set up his own Socialist trade bloc and jumped into the middle of disputes between his neighbors, even when no one has asked.
Some nations are beginning to take umbrage. The mere association with Mr. Chávez has helped reverse the leads of presidential candidates in Mexico and Peru. Officials from Mexico to Nicaragua, Peru and Brazil have expressed rising impatience at what they see as Mr. Chávez's meddling and grandstanding, often at their expense.

Photo I.D.

2006-05-22T07:48:00.000-05:00

John Fund:

Amid all the disputes over immigration in Congress, one amendment is being proposed that in theory should unite people in both parties. How about requiring that everyone show some form of identification before voting in federal elections? Polls show overwhelming support for the idea, and there is increasing concern that more illegal aliens are showing up on voter registration rolls. But the fact that photo ID isn't likely to pass shows both how deeply emotional the immigration issue has become and how bitter congressional politics have become with elections only 5 1/2 months away.

Border Security

2006-05-19T15:10:00.000-05:00

Charles Krauthammer:

Serious border enforcement is what's missing in the president's "comprehensive" program. And that is why so many "conservatives" are extremely unhappy. Not out of nativism. There are many like me who cannot wait to end the shadow life of the illegals. But doing so while fraudulently promising to close the border is a simple capitulation -- and an invitation to the next president to declare the next amnesty for the next torrent of illegals who will have understood from the Bush program that crossing the border at night and finding a place to hide is the surest road to the American dream.

A Little Coca with your Mocha?

2006-05-19T13:39:00.000-05:00

Marcela Sanchez:

If Bolivian President Evo Morales has his way, you may soon find yourself ordering a cup of mate de coca instead of cappuccino at your favorite cafe.
Morales wants to give thousands of Bolivian coca growers access to new markets. He envisions an expanded use for coca as an ingredient in beverages, chewing gum and toothpaste and as a food-flavoring agent.

How Many Immigrants?

2006-05-19T13:29:00.000-05:00

That is the question:

For many, perhaps most Americans, the question is not “Should we welcome immigrants?” but “How many?” A moderate influx may be economically helpful and culturally invigorating; a huge one would be disruptive. It is not easy, however, to look at a proposed law and predict how many newcomers it might let in.
Some estimates are extremely high. Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, put it at 100m over 20 years if the Senate bill were enacted. His study, released on the same day as Mr Bush's speech, also included a “maximum” estimate of 193m. That figure—equivalent to 60% of the current population—was seized upon by alarmists such as Rush Limbaugh, a talk-radio host, and Dianne Feinstein, a Democratic senator from California.
But cooler heads queried Mr Rector's methodology. Michael Fix of the Migration Policy Institute, a pro-immigration think-tank, said he doubted that the guest-worker programme would expand as fast as Mr Rector assumes, that immigrants would naturalise as quickly, that so few would die or return home, and that so many would bring their parents. Compounded over decades, small changes in assumptions lead to big changes in results. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that immigration reform would add a more modest 7.8m people to America's population over ten years.

The Economics of Immigration

2006-05-19T10:39:00.000-05:00

Larry Kudlow:

Why legislators fail to understand the economics of this problem is beyond me.
Wage differentials between Mexico and the U.S. are huge — largely because of Mexico’s failure to liberalize its economy. So, as long as American job opportunities and higher wages beckon, immigrants in search of a better life will stream northward into the U.S. — fence or no fence. This has always been the heart of the problem.
The anti-immigration crowd also gets it wrong when it points out that the Senate compromise bill would increase the number of immigrant workers in the U.S. by roughly 61 million over the next two decades. This Heritage Foundation analysis has the fear-mongerers predicting a Mexican takeover of the United States. But we need these workers.
Due to the demographic shift being caused by the baby boomers, the ratio of working-age persons in the U.S. to retirees aged 65 and over will drop like a stone from the current 4.7:1 ratio to 3.5:1 by 2030, and 2.6:1 by 2040. With the Social Security and Medicare trust funds going bankrupt, how will we manage with so few workers per retiree? Will we let our whole economy stagnate like France, Germany, Italy, or even Japan? All of these countries suffer from shrinking workforces and top-heavy government taxation.
Well, the U.S. could maintain a 4:1 ratio of workers to retirees by admitting an additional 57.5 million workers over the next nineteen years, according to analyst William Kucewicz. This would result in an average annual population increase of less than 1 percent and a total of only 16.4 percent more than the 350 million projected by the Census Bureau for 2025.

$ 2 Billion

2006-05-19T10:30:00.000-05:00

From AP via Forbes.com:

President Bush sent Congress a $1.9 billion request Thursday to increase border security as supporters of sweeping immigration legislation reasserted control in Senate debate.
The White House said the money would pay for the "first 1,000 of 6,000 new Border Patrol agents that will be deployed in the next two years," as well as the temporary deployment of up to 6,000 National Guard troops to states along the Mexican border. The request includes funds for new fencing and other barriers as well as two new unmanned surveillance aircraft and five helicopters to curb illegal immigration.
The White House sent the request to Congress as the president traveled to Yuma, Ariz. to dramatize his commitment to border control and the Senate labored over the most sweeping overhaul of immigration law in two decades.

Chávez Has Money

2006-05-19T10:05:00.000-05:00

...and that's a problem:

The U.S. decision on Monday to ban arms sales to Venezuela symbolizes the growing concern around the region about the saber-rattling President Hugo Chávez.
But it's not likely to have much of an effect. First, because Venezuela can probably get much of what it wants in the weapons department via its friends in Russia. And second, because Mr. Chávez's "Bolivarian Revolution" -- which promises to unite the entire region under a neo-Marxist flag -- is being carried out through less traditional means than modern brute force. So far he has picked off Bolivia and serious concerns are now emerging about his financial backing of Sandinista National Liberation Front candidate Daniel Ortega ahead of Nicaragua's November presidential elections.
The trouble is that Mr. Chávez is awash in cash and that is what he is using, both overtly and surreptitiously, to extend his influence in the poorest countries of the region...
Venezuelan democrats will tell you that there is not much hope for a change in government without an oil-price retreat. Until that happens, Mr. Chávez will be too powerful. That's bad news for 26 million Venezuelans who are experiencing sky-rocketing crime rates and declining living standards under Chavismo.

From Mary Anastasia O'Grady (subscription)

The National Language

2006-05-19T08:03:00.000-05:00

From the L.A. Times:

English would be declared the "national language" of the United States under a measure the Senate approved Thursday, a largely symbolic move that supporters said would promote unity and encourage assimilation by immigrants.
The measure would not reverse government practices of providing some materials and services — including voting ballots and emergency advisories — in other languages. But it would establish that people have no right or entitlement to ask government officials to provide services or materials in other languages, unless authorized by law.
Minutes after adding the provision to the immigration bill it is debating, the Senate passed a second amendment with less pointed phrasing. Declaring English the country's "common and unifying" language, it specified that the "existing rights" under which the government provides bilingual services and assistance would not be diminished.

Encouragement for the Besieged

2006-05-18T08:21:00.000-05:00

David Brooks has some encouragement for Republican Senators who support a compromise on immigration reform legislation (NYT subscription):

For weeks now — months, actually! — you've been besieged by the close-the-border restrictionists, who shut down your phone lines and scream at you in town meetings. You've been hit with slopping barrages of manure by Limbaugh, Savage, Levin and every other talk-radio jock in the Northern Hemisphere. People who don't run for office don't understand how disorienting it is to have your base, your own people, suddenly turn carnivorous and out for your flesh.
They say you and your fellow immigration compromisers are performing the biggest act of political suicide in modern history, and you wonder whether they are right.
What bothers you about the restrictionists is not that they are primitives or racists. They're not. It's their imperviousness, their unwillingness to compromise. They don't have the numbers to govern, but they think they have the numbers to destroy.
They trumpet the studies indicating that immigration decreases wages, but ignore the ones that show it stimulates wages and growth. They mention the strains first-generation immigrants put on social services, but ignore the evidence that immigrants' children are so productive they more than compensate for the cost. They talk about the criminal immigrants, but look past the vast majority who are religious and family-centered.
You haven't been able to get your restrictionist friends to think pragmatically. Do they really think they'll get a better immigration bill in the next Congress, when there are more Democrats, or under President Hillary Clinton or John McCain? Do they really want to preserve the status quo for another decade? Do they think the G.O.P. can have a future if it insults even the Hispanics who are already here?

Oil Trouble in Ecuador

2006-05-17T08:25:00.000-05:00

What's going on here?

Ecuadorean President Alfredo Palacio sent troops to guard oil facilities seized from Occidental Petroleum Corp. as they are transferred to state control, officials said Tuesday.
But officials said the cancellation of Occidental's operating contracts and the seizure of its assets did not mean the Andean nation is nationalizing its oil industry.
Defense Minister Oswaldo Jarrin told reporters late Tuesday that Palacio issued a decree directing the soldiers, who started arriving to the oil fields earlier in the day, "to provide protection and safekeeping" for up to 60 days "of all hydrocarbon complexes" formerly held by the U.S.-based oil company.
Ecuador unilaterally canceled Occidental's operating contracts on Monday over a dispute that stretched back several years, claiming that the oil company had broken the terms of its contract.

Hate Groups

2006-05-17T08:19:00.000-05:00

From USAToday:

Tension over illegal immigration is contributing to a rise in hate groups and hate crimes across the nation, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. It says that racist groups are using the immigration debate as a rallying cry...
The center's report says the national debate that has focused on Hispanic immigration has been "the single most important factor" in spurring activity among hate groups and has given them "an issue with real resonance."

Alan García Redux

2006-05-17T08:04:00.000-05:00

From the Wall Street Journal (subscription):

Alan García, who presided over an economic disaster as Peru's youthful leftist president during the 1980s, is now living one of the stranger second acts in Latin American political history. As Peru enjoys a surge in economic growth, an older and seemingly more moderate Mr. García has emerged as the front-running candidate in next month's presidential election precisely because he's seen as a bulwark against another young, leftist radical, Ollanta Humala.
Mr. García, 56 years old, who just barely qualified for the June 4 runoff after a hard-fought first round in April, has charged ahead in the polls by recasting himself as a moderate and tying Mr. Humala, 43, to the region's fiery populist leaders, Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Bolivia's Evo Morales. To many in Latin America's middle class, Messrs. Chávez and Morales have increasingly become symbols of the bad old days of runaway inflation and confrontational politics.

I think this means there's hope for Peru.

The Immigration Debate

2006-05-16T15:40:00.000-05:00

I almost wet my pants watching this video.

Dead Capital in Mexico

2006-05-16T10:21:00.000-05:00

From TCS Daily:

Mexico's poor own their limited property in "deficient form," says Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, with inadequately documented rights and assets. They have what he terms "dead capital" - "houses but not titles; crops but not deeds; businesses but not statutes of incorporation." Worse, they have little opportunity to improve their lot, as long as they remain in Mexico.
Much of rural and small-town Mexico does not even have electricity, telephone and internet service, sewage treatment, water-purification, or decent roads, schools and healthcare. Just five miles from Cancun, I visited Valle Verde, where several thousand people live in primitive wood shacks, with electricity for only a few light bulbs and no running water or sanitation. One cannot help wondering where all that petroleum and tourism money has gone.

The President's Speech

2006-05-16T08:48:00.000-05:00

Please share your comments on the President's speech last night on immigration.

Remittances & Inflation in El Salvador

2006-05-16T08:46:00.000-05:00

From the Miami Herald:

LA UNION, El Salvador - It is hard to overstate how much this tiny Central American nation has benefited from the estimated $2.8 billion that Salvadoran immigrants in the United States send back to their relatives each year.
Without it, the portion of families who live in extreme poverty would jump from 6 percent to 37 percent, according to a recent study by the United Nations Development Program.
Yet economists have become increasingly concerned that the flood of U.S. dollars may also be driving up the cost of living in El Salvador, forcing ever-larger numbers of Salvadorans to leave for the United States -- where their presence, along with that of other illegal immigrants, has already triggered a fierce debate.

Passing the Joint in Mexico

2006-05-15T15:57:00.000-05:00

From the Economist in Mexico City:

500 protesters gathered on May 6th for a marijuana “smoke-in” to criticise an about-face by Mr Fox on a drugs bill. The president had promised to pass (and had helped design) a bill to decriminalise possession of small amounts of most drugs, a measure that the bill’s supporters say would free up police to pursue dealers and traffickers instead of small-time users. Both houses of congress had passed the bill, but Mr Fox, under pressure from America, abruptly reversed course on May 4th. Some Mexican legislators say they may override the president’s veto.
The protesters at the smoke-in were joined by Patricia Mercado, the presidential candidate of the Alternative Social Democratic party, whose strong showing in a recent presidential debate bumped her up in the polls—though her support base is still paltry, at 3-4%. Ms Mercado declined to light up, but said she supported the decriminalisation of marijuana.

Catch and Release

2006-05-15T09:56:00.000-05:00

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Beefed-up enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border since Sept. 11, 2001, has substantially increased the number of arrests of illegal immigrants, but tens of thousands of captured non-Mexicans continue to be released into the United States because there is no place to hold them, according to experts and immigration officials. Mexico will not accept them.
The vast majority simply slip away inside the country after being issued "Notices to Appear" for a deportation hearing -- documents known to Border Patrol agents as "Notices to Disappear." The success of border crossers who stay in the United States through this "catch-and-release" process has encouraged others who hope to enter the country the same way.

The Guard at the Border

2006-05-15T09:51:00.000-05:00

From the New York Times:

President Bush's plan to send National Guard troops to patrol the southern border of the United States has raised the concern of his longtime ally President Vicente Fox of Mexico, who called Mr. Bush on Sunday to express his worries.
White House officials said Mr. Bush assured Mr. Fox that a permanent National Guard presence on the border was not being considered.

What the heck is Vicente "concerned" about?

Prime Time

2006-05-13T10:09:00.000-05:00

From Yahoo! News:

President Bush plans to address the nation Monday night on the immigration debate, trying to build momentum for legislation that could provide millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become American citizens.
The White House said it was seeking time from television networks for the president's remarks.

Latino Voters & Immigration

2006-05-13T10:03:00.000-05:00

Not surprisingly...

Eighty percent of registered Latino voters support an immigration proposal, similar to one recently proposed in the U.S. Senate that would allow immigrants currently in the United States to earn their way to citizenship, according to a recent poll conducted for the Latino Policy Coalition.

Who Speaks for Whom?

2006-05-13T09:58:00.000-05:00

From New America Media:

A new coalition of U.S. Latinos headed to Washington D.C. last Monday to say the massive protests seen around the country "don't speak for us."
The group, known as 'You Don't Speak for Me,' was started by U.S. Latinos who were "offended by the demands being made by people who have broken our nation's laws," according to a statement released by the group. The group arrived in the nation's capitol May 1 with the hopes of meeting with members of Congress and discussing immigration reform.
According to the group's statement, the coalition supports the "strengthening and enforcement of U.S. immigration laws." This includes added manpower and barriers along the border with Mexico, denial of non-emergency benefits and services to undocumented immigrants and "vigorous enforcement" of businesses that hire undocumented workers, the statement said.

Legalization and Assimilation

2006-05-12T16:55:00.000-05:00

Peter D. Salins:

The key to assimilation in the United States has been our openness to large-scale immigration and tolerance of ethnic and religious differences. But it has also depended heavily on laws and policies that have allowed legal immigrants to become American in every sense.
Clearly, the 11 million to 12 million undocumented immigrants now here can never assimilate, whether they want to or not. Their illegal status will keep them from being accepted by their American neighbors, regardless of their virtue or utility. Thus, legalizing their status is essential.

Columbia Honors Payá

2006-05-12T08:43:00.000-05:00

From OpinionJournal:

College graduation season is upon us, and once again the list of commencement speakers and honorary-degree recipients makes interesting reading. Some are perennials on the May-June diploma circuit, like the famous faces--Tom Brokaw, Hillary Clinton--from show business and politics. Others are local figures well known chiefly to the audience they will be addressing.
Yet this year one man's name stands out, and not only because of his personal accomplishments. By conferring a Doctor of Laws degree on Cuban opposition leader Oswaldo Payá, Columbia University effectively honors every person in Cuba who shares his burden, dreams and goals.
A Columbia press release about the award summarizes those goals: "As a prominent human-rights organizer and director of the Varela Project, an effort to democratize Cuba's political system, Payá is celebrated as an agent of nonviolent change.

Fox Disses Hugo and Evo

2006-05-12T07:31:00.000-05:00

From MarketWatch:

Vicente Fox, the president of Mexico, on Thursday delivered a salvo against the leftwing policies of Venezuela and Bolivia, warning that protectionism and nationalisation could damage the prospects of Latin America as a whole.
In an interview with the Financial Times, he made a thinly veiled attack on Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's president, and Evo Morales, his Bolivian counterpart, who recently moved to nationalise the gas industry.
"I respect the opinions of other presidents and do not want to interfere in their decisions," Mr Fox said, when asked about the rise of economic nationalism in the region. "But, yes, I can say if something has not worked well in Latin America, it's precisely populism, demagoguery, deception, which only hurt the process of development and impoverish people even more."

Winners and Losers

2006-05-10T14:28:00.000-05:00

U.S. News tries to tell us who the winners and losers will be if immigration reform, as is proposed right now, succeeds.

Immigration Arrests

2006-05-10T10:13:00.000-05:00

From the WaPo:

Federal authorities announced the arrests yesterday of four construction supervisors and 76 illegal immigrants at a Kentucky home-building company, continuing a promised government crackdown on employers that rely on illegal labor.
The arrests at Fischer Homes, a leading builder in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, followed the April 19 arrests of seven current and former managers and more than 1,100 workers for Ifco Systems North America Inc., a subsidiary of a Dutch manufacturer of plastic crates and wooden pallets.
The effort comes as Congress debates plans to overhaul the nation's immigration laws.

Violent Crime in Venezuela

2006-05-10T10:07:00.000-05:00

Caracas has become the world capital of violent crime:

According to U.N. figures, the rates of gun-related violence are higher here than anywhere else on earth. The rank stench coming from the police office -- a building that doubles as a morgue -- is a rotten byproduct of a homicide rate that in recent years has eclipsed that of Colombia, a country torn by 40 years of civil strife between armed militias. Bullets fly so often in Caracas that even the white truck that ferries dead bodies from the barrios to the forensics building has a bullet hole in its driver's-side door.
The frustration among crime-weary Venezuelans recently has become a political issue, erupting into several large street protests demanding that Hugo Chavez's government do something to stem the violence. Chavez's opponents are trying to make crime a central theme of the December presidential elections, demanding action from a president they say has neglected the issue since taking power in 1999.

Local Enforcement of Immigration Laws

2006-05-10T09:56:00.000-05:00

From the New York Times:

To people who say round up more illegal immigrants, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County [Arizona] here has an answer: send out the posse.
On Wednesday, the posse, a civilian force of 300 volunteers, many of them retired deputies, are to fan out over desert backcountry, watching for smugglers and the people they guide into these parts.
Already, a small team of deputies roams the human-trafficking routes to enforce a nine-month-old state law that makes smuggling people a felony and effectively authorizes local police forces to enforce immigration law.
Not only do deputies charge the smugglers, but many of their customers have also been jailed. That has drawn criticism from several quarters, even the politician who sponsored the law and has generally supported Sheriff Arpaio's position.

Hispanic Growth

2006-05-10T09:18:00.000-05:00

From the USAToday:

Hispanics remain the USA's fastest-growing minority group, but most of their population increase comes from births here rather than immigration, according to Census Bureau estimates released Tuesday.
As debate over immigration policy roils the nation, government numbers show that 60% of the 1.3 million new Hispanics in 2005 are citizens because they were born here.

Andy Garcia's "The Lost City"

2006-05-09T13:04:00.000-05:00

Politically correct movie critics are lambasting Andy Garcia's "The Lost City" because it challenges their myths about pre-Castro Cuba. Go figure.

Cuba Oil Drilling

2006-05-09T12:59:00.000-05:00

Here's another reason the Cuban embargo is a bad idea.

KKK

2006-05-08T13:27:00.000-05:00

From the Birmingham News (2nd item):

A Ku Klux Klan anti-immigration rally Saturday in this northwest Alabama city drew a crowd of more than 300 supporters and counter protesters...
At the rally, marchers yelled anti-immigration slogans such as "Send them back." One robed woman held a sign saying "Remember the Alamo, Stop Invasion Now, Save America..."
Ray Larsen, imperial wizard of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan from South Bend, Ind., told the crowd on a megaphone that illegal immigrants are in America to take jobs. "They want to take all jobs," he said.

Bolivian History

2006-05-08T08:29:00.000-05:00

According to the New York Times, the history of Bolivia helps explain Evo Morales' move to nationalize the energy sector.

Thinking Together

2006-05-08T08:23:00.000-05:00

The Washington Post has a write-up on a new website for a group calling itself Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together (MATT).

Update: Here's another website.

Latinos Hate Bush

2006-05-06T08:54:00.000-05:00

From HispanicBusiness.com:

A new national survey released today by the Latino Policy Coalition finds that President George W. Bush has dramatically less support among Latino voters than popularly believed. He has even less support among Latinos than the Republican Party has...
The national poll found that Bush's positive job performance rating among Latino voters is a staggeringly low 23 percent. In contrast, 75 percent of Latino voters have a negative view of the job the president is doing.

Journalists Jailed in Cuba

2006-05-06T08:51:00.000-05:00

From the Miami Herald:

Today, the Inter American Press Association is focusing attention on the deplorable plight of 25 independent Cuban journalists imprisoned for committing crimes of conscience. We call upon the government of President Fidel Castro to release all 25 and immediately provide medical treatment to the 18 who are suffering serious health problems.
The condition of the journalists has deteriorated since they were jailed in March 2003 as part of an official crackdown on a group of 75 dissidents. The decline is due to physical mistreatment and punishment, poor food, lack of medical attention, restrictions on family visits, overcrowded cells and confinement among a dangerous criminal population.

Learn English!

2006-05-05T10:16:00.000-05:00

From the Houston Chronicle:

President Bush on Thursday told a largely Hispanic audience at a Cinco de Mayo celebration in the White House that America is a nation of immigrants but that all new arrivals should learn English.
"Those who come here to start new lives in our country have a responsibility to understand what America is about, and the responsibility to learn the English language," Bush said. "That's what we want."
Bush in recent days has intensified his stance on English as he tries to win support in Congress for a controversial guest worker program for immigrants.

Common Ground?

2006-05-05T10:12:00.000-05:00

From the L.A. Times:

Latino and African American activists announced plans Thursday for a national leadership conference in Los Angeles to ease tensions and build unity over such hot-button issues as immigration, jobs, education and gang violence.
The Rev. Al Sharpton and Christine Chavez, the granddaughter of United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez, will headline the June gathering, which was announced at a Leimert Park news conference by Najee Ali of Project Islamic Hope, Earl Ofari Hutchinson of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable and others.

This is going to end badly. Anything that Sharpton touches only gets worse.

The Flat Tax in Costa Rica

2006-05-05T08:53:00.000-05:00

Mary Anastasia O'Grady (WSJ subscription):

The concept is anathema to Costa Rica's hard left, which is crying foul on grounds that a single, low rate is unjust: Under a flat tax the rich don't pay their fair share and it leads to profits -- a dirty word to Latin socialists -- for business.
Yet the flat tax has already proved an effective way to fight poverty in a host of developing countries... For individuals, tax evasion goes down and tax collection goes up because of better compliance. Low corporate rates attract capital, spurring economic growth and job creation. That means there is more money in government coffers to help the needy. Without a laundry list of tax exemptions and loopholes, corruption is thwarted.
If anyone can sell these concepts to Costa Ricans, it's Mr. Arias. He has the confidence of many Costa Ricans who tend to distrust the private sector, thanks in part to the systematic indoctrination of young minds by the left-wing national teachers' union.

Against Ollanta Humala in Peru

2006-05-04T22:31:00.000-05:00

Carlos Alberto Montaner is trying to encourage the political factions in Peru to unite against Ollanta Humala to make sure he does not become the next president of that South American country:

On the political field, Humala -- like Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales and Fidel Castro -- is an enemy of the political values of Western democracies. On the economic field, he is a convinced and avowed collectivist.
Were Humala to win the election, ultranationalism and indigenism would rule together with statism and the rejection of the market. Add his intolerant, anti-Semitic and homophobic character, and this inevitably would lead to an authoritarian, unproductive and increasingly militarized government that would bring only pain to the Peruvian people.

Los Tres Amigos

2006-05-04T22:27:00.000-05:00

Alvaro Vargas Llosa:

When Evo Morales was elected in Bolivia, a number of commentators (myself included) were expressing the faint hope that the president would resist the temptation to follow Hugo Chávez's footsteps. Brazil's important economic presence in Bolivia, we thought, might give President Lula da Silva, a more moderate man, the sort of leverage that would persuade Evo Morales to keep Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez at arm's length even against his deepest instincts. The fact that the United States was avoiding open hostility seemed to give Morales room to maneuver.
Unfortunately, it looks like Mr. Morales' presidency has said "adios" to common sense. He is beginning to pick fights with moderate neighbors, to push away Brazil, to alienate investors, to inundate his country with "social workers" and advisors from Cuba and Venezuela, to reopen old wounds in the separatist region of Santa Cruz, and to undermine the independent electoral system. This week he nationalized the country's oil and gas industry...
Unlike Venezuela, Bolivia does not obtain $50 billion from oil sales every year. In fact, its national budget is dependent on foreign donations. By allying himself with Venezuela and Cuba, Mr. Morales is not only making a dangerous political calculation that could isolate him from countries such as Brazil, Chile, and Peru but also betraying the expectations of those millions of indigenous Bolivians who need capital in order to start the hard process of overcoming poverty. By concentrating power, this self-styled scourge of "traditional politics" is doing the most traditional thing possible in Latin America.

No Affirmative Action for Immigrants

2006-05-04T22:17:00.000-05:00

Edward Blum and Roger Clegg:

Affirmative action on the basis of race, color, or national origin should not be available to any temporary worker—or any recent immigrant, for that matter. In other words, immigrants shouldn't be given a preference in school admissions, public contracting, and employment on the basis of skin color or ethnicity.
After all, someone who has recently entered the country can hardly claim a right to favored treatment to make up for "historical discrimination" against him by American employers or any unit of government. He just got here.

The Next Generations

2006-05-04T09:46:00.000-05:00

Commentary from the Wall Street Journal (subscription):

The impact of immigration on American culture is not determined by what immigrants do, but by what their children and grandchildren do. Here the evidence is unambiguous: The children and grandchildren of Mexican immigrants assimilate and move up the income ladder. Meticulous research by James Smith at Rand demonstrates that second- and third-generation Mexican-Americans quickly overcome the educational deficit faced by their immigrant parents and grandparents. As a result, they do not constitute a permanent economic underclass; they have been steadily narrowing the income gap with native-born whites. Nor do they constitute a social and cultural group independent of mainstream America. The reason is clear: 80% of third-generation Mexican-Americans cannot speak Spanish.

Immigration & Civil Rights

2006-05-04T08:26:00.000-05:00

From the New York Times:

Some blacks bristle at the comparison between the civil rights movement and the immigrant demonstrations, pointing out that black protesters in the 1960's were American citizens and had endured centuries of enslavement, rapes, lynchings and discrimination before they started marching.
Others worry about the plight of low-skilled black workers, who sometimes compete with immigrants for entry-level jobs.
And some fear the unfinished business of the civil rights movement will fall to the wayside as America turns its attention to a newly energized Hispanic minority with growing political and economic clout.

Immigration & Employers

2006-05-02T11:01:00.000-05:00

Commentary in Forbes Magazine:

No one seriously disputes the existence of an illegal immigration problem in this country. But aggressive and costly enforcement initiatives against employers are fundamentally unfair, since they fail to address the underlying problems, such as porous borders and the easy availability of counterfeit documents. Our immigration problems will not be improved by passing the buck to corporate America.

Bolivia Nationalizes Gas

2006-05-01T16:29:00.000-05:00

This is the beginning of the end for either Bolivia or Evo Morales' presidency. My guess is the former:

Bolivia's President Evo Morales decreed the nationalization of the country's natural gas industry today, following through on an election pledge to increase control over the energy industry.
Under the decision, he ordered foreign firms to send production to a state company for sales and industrialization, and said that the state will also recover Bolivian hydrocarbons companies that were privatized in the 1990's, with the state taking over shares that are in the hands of foreign companies and of semi-public Bolivian entities, according to an Associated Press report based on Mr. Morales's speech, which was delivered at the country's San Alberto gas and oil field.
He also ordered the military to occupy the natural gas fields, the A.P. said.

Expect that foreign investment in the country will dry up very quickly and a poor nation to become even poorer. What a shame!

Work Stoppage

2006-05-01T12:55:00.000-05:00

Strikes are paralyzing Buenos Aires, Argentina. Illegal immigrants staying home for a day are not having the same effect in the U.S.

Mexican Demographics & Immigration

2006-04-28T08:10:00.000-05:00

From the Wall Street Journal (subscription):

Thanks to a decades-long family-planning campaign, most Mexicans are having far fewer children than was typical a generation ago... [I]n 1968, the average Mexican woman had nearly seven children. Today, the figure is just above two, comparable to the U.S.
This sweeping demographic shift has fostered hope that someday Mexico will produce a healthy middle class... Most Mexicans today are far too poor for luxuries... But the new, smaller Mexican family may help change that by allowing parents to invest more in their children's education, finally producing the generation that lifts Mexico into the developed world.
Mexico's new demographics could have a big impact on the U.S. Although the flood of Mexicans heading north is whipping up debate in Washington, the crossings may slow in future decades. That could happen simply because smaller families limit the pool of potential migrants. A slowdown would be especially likely if a growing middle class makes more Mexicans comfortable at home and averse to risking a dash across the border.

Univision Auction

2006-04-27T08:42:00.000-05:00

From the New York Times:

Several big media companies, including the Walt Disney Company and CBS, have held meetings with Univision's management over the last week about making a takeover offer for the company, people involved in the talks said yesterday.
Univision, the largest Spanish-language television and radio company in the nation, put itself up for auction in February.
The latest negotiations appear to demonstrate that there may be more interest in Univision than some rivals have so far let on.

Multiculturalism in Decline

2006-04-27T08:26:00.000-05:00

David Brooks (subscription):

Multiculturalism is in decline for a number of reasons. First, the identity groups have ossified. The feminist organizations were hypocritical during the Clinton impeachment scandal, and both fevered and weak during the Roberts and Alito hearings. Meanwhile, the civil rights groups have become stale and uninteresting.
Second, the Democrats have come to understand that they need to pay less attention to minorities and more to the white working class if they ever want to become the majority party again. Third, the intellectual energy on the left is now with the economists. People who write about inequality are more vibrant than people who write about discrimination.
Fourth and most important, 9/11 happened. The attacks aroused feelings of national solidarity, or a longing for national solidarity, that discredited the multiculturalists' tribalism.

Christians Split on Immigration

2006-04-27T08:07:00.000-05:00

From USAToday:

Although Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant leaders are voicing strong support for undocumented immigrants, recent survey data suggest that their flocks are increasingly uneasy about immigration trends. And evangelicals are proving to be divided along ethnic lines.

Newt's Immigration Plan

2006-04-26T18:51:00.000-05:00

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has a plan to deal with the immigration problem. He has set out his plan in detail.

LatAm: The People's Choice

2006-04-25T10:47:00.000-05:00

Analysis of the political situation in Latin America from Roger Noriega:

Recent history in the region teaches many lessons. If voters have to settle for political parties whose only principle is holding on to power, then politicians should not be surprised when populists manage to convince people that ideas don't matter. If voters are taken in by empty populist rhetoric, they should not expect government that can deliver practical results or a constructive vision. If voters choose a coup leader as president, they should not expect someone who can make democracy work. When they elect candidates who rail against the "neoliberal" model, they have no one but themselves to blame when socialist solutions strangle their economy.
But, of course, it doesn't have to be that way. Countries that choose serious and sound democrats to lead them -- regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum -- usually get accountable and responsible government. Leaders like Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Ricardo Lagos of Chile, Elías Antonio Saca of El Salvador, Alejandro Toledo of Peru, Martín Torrijos in Panama, Alvaro Uribe of Colombia, Tabaré Vázquez of Uruguay and others prove that democracy can produce able and even remarkable leadership.

President Pushes Congress

2006-04-25T08:13:00.000-05:00

From the Washington Post:

Under pressure from Republicans to play a bigger role in the immigration debate, President Bush will begin meeting key lawmakers Tuesday to help forge a bipartisan agreement by Memorial Day to offer some undocumented workers a path to citizenship.
But White House aides emphasized that Bush has no intention for now of staking clear legislative positions on the immigration bill. He does not want to embrace a proposal, only to see it lose once House and Senate negotiators try to reach a final agreement, whose prospects are still seen as remote on Capitol Hill.

Don't Neglect Assimilation

2006-04-24T16:15:00.000-05:00

Robert J. Samuelson:

It's all about assimilation -- or it should be. One of America's glories is that it has assimilated many waves of immigrants. Outsiders have become insiders. But it hasn't been easy. Every new group has struggled: Germans, Irish, Jews and Italians. All have encountered economic hardship, prejudice and discrimination. The story of U.S. immigration is often ugly. If today's wave of immigration does not end in assimilation, it will be a failure. By this standard, I think the major contending sides in the present bitter debate are leading us astray. Their proposals, if adopted, would frustrate assimilation.
On the one hand, we have the "cop" school. It adamantly opposes amnesty and would make being here illegally a felony, as opposed to a lesser crime. It toughens a variety of penalties against illegal immigrants. Elevating the seriousness of the crime would supposedly deprive them of jobs, and then illegal immigrants would return to Mexico, El Salvador or wherever. This is a pipe dream; the numbers are simply too large...
On the other hand we have the "guest worker" advocates. They want 400,000 or more new foreign workers annually. This would supposedly curtail illegal immigration -- people who now sneak into the country could get work permits -- and also cure "shortages" of unskilled American workers. Everyone wins. Not really.

GOP Wedge Issue

2006-04-24T16:08:00.000-05:00

You guessed it, it's immigration:

The immigration reform debate has highlighted a long-standing fissure in the GOP between the elitist Rockefeller business wing and the party's conservative populist base. Whether the two groups can continue to coexist and preserve the Republican majority is increasingly doubtful as conservatives begin to consider -- and in some cases cheer -- the possibility that the GOP may lose control of Congress this fall.

Hillary Wants More Fences

2006-04-24T09:41:00.000-05:00

From AP via Newsday:

A barrier at parts of U.S. borders is "obviously important" as part of dealing with illegal immigration, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said.
Clinton endorsed using technology, like a fence that could recognize when people were coming near it while they were still a few hundred yards away, the Daily News reported in Sunday's editions.
"A physical structure is obviously important," Clinton told the newspaper. "A wall in certain areas would be appropriate."
But while in support of border security enforcement, Clinton also reiterated a position she has stated previously, that she supports some kind of legalization process for the millions of illegal immigrants already in the country.

LatAm - A Community of Democracies

2006-04-24T07:43:00.000-05:00

From Mexidata:

Latin America's embrace of democracy represents a profound shift in political culture that bodes well for the region's future, despite the serious challenges ahead, according to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Speaking at an April 19 media roundtable in Chicago, the secretary noted that since the 1980s, the Western Hemisphere has transformed itself from a region prone to military coups into a community of democratic nations, excepting only Cuba.

Dean Talks Tough on Border Issue

2006-04-20T18:10:00.000-05:00

From the Washington Times:

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean yesterday called border security his party's top immigration priority for November.
"The first thing we want is tough border control," he said. "We have to do a much better job on our borders than George Bush has done. And then we can go to the policy disagreements about how to get it done."
Republicans reacted with surprise to Mr. Dean's announcement, which puts the DNC chief's views at odds with those of many Democrats in Congress.
"If Dean means what he says about border enforcement, that would put the Democrats somewhere to the right of President Bush on immigration," said Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican.
A spokesman for the Republican National Committee dismissed Mr. Dean's "newfound commitment to border security" as "not believable."

Immigration in Colorado

2006-04-20T10:40:00.000-05:00

Fred Brown:

Most Coloradans think of themselves as open-minded, independent, live-and-let-live sorts. But the explosion of controversy, anger and even fear about illegal immigrants flooding into the U.S. from the south has revealed a less-accepting side of the Colorado state of mind. There is a gathering concern about the tide of unassimilated newcomers, and little consensus about solutions.

LatAm Dictatorships & the U.N.

2006-04-19T10:50:00.000-05:00

From the Miami Herald:

The Bush administration is battling to stop Venezuela and Cuba from gaining seats in important U.N. posts in a confrontation that has many Latin American nations caught in the middle, diplomats and analysts say.
Most observers believe Washington faces an uphill battle to keep Venezuela out of the Security Council and Cuba out of a newly created U.N. Human Rights Council.

More Work Visas

2006-04-18T09:25:00.000-05:00

Brendan Miniter:

Perhaps the most significant contribution this Republican Congress can make is to keep stoking the economy with tax cuts. With the national unemployment rate under 5%, immigrants are clearly not sinking the economy, and most are contributing to what can rightly be called the Bush boom...
The solution is to create respect for the rule of law by making it possible for foreign workers to come here and fill the jobs the economy needs filled. Immigrants will use legal avenues to enter this country if they are open to them--even at a small cost--for the simple reason that it is more profitable to live outside the shadows than inside barrios where hustlers can take advantage of them without fear of the long arm of the law. That means vastly more work visas than the U.S. now issues, and it is why President Bush is pushing for a guest worker program.
Once immigrants are allowed to live outside of the shadows, it will be much easier for the nation to assimilate them and then target drug traffickers and others who still sneak across the border. The strongest fence is the economic opportunity of a life out in the open. It's about time this nation started using economic incentives to its advantage.

Georgia Immigrant Law

2006-04-18T09:18:00.000-05:00

From the New York Times:

Gov. Sonny Perdue signed a sweeping immigration bill on Monday that supporters and critics say gives Georgia some of the nation's toughest measures against illegal immigrants.
The law requires verification that adults who seek many state-administered benefits are in the United States legally. Employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants face sanctions, and companies with state contracts must check employees' immigration status.
The law also requires that the police check the status of people they arrest.

Waldo Benavidez

2006-04-17T09:52:00.000-05:00

Liberals against immigration! Here's another reason to support comprehensive immigration reform:

Mr. Benavidez has spent most of his adult life working on behalf of the poor. For the last 25 years he has managed the community center and a food bank here on Denver's west side, where low-income families can get groceries. He marched for civil rights in the 1960's and relishes the memory of his first vote for president, for John F. Kennedy, in 1960.
But immigration's tangled implications have pushed him out of his comfortable old political box with its predictably liberal labels and causes. Supporting the poor in America, he said, now means shutting down the system that has created a flood of even poorer immigrants from Mexico...
Mr. Benavidez, whose ancestors have been in the West for 250 years, since the days of the Spanish empire, supports sealing the Mexican border, and is working for a proposed ballot proposition here in Colorado that would deny government social services to illegal immigrants.
He rails against multinational corporations that he says have rigged the political systems of the United States and Mexico to keep the border porous as a tool for suppressing wages and labor unions.

Argentinian Wine

2006-04-17T09:35:00.000-05:00

From the Washington Post:

Quality winemakers are fast erasing last century's image of Argentine wineries as sleepy ventures with a reputation for unadventurous and often overripe table wines served up to a large but captive domestic market. Whether it's Bressia's small winery or the sprawling plants of far bigger wineries such as nearby Familia Zuccardi, the mantra is quality control.
"In 1992, Argentina exported less than 1 percent of its harvest," said Jose Alberto Zuccardi, director of the business started by his father in the 1950s. "In 2005, we are exporting in values above 16 percent. Today Argentina is seen as a country of the new world of winemaking . . . and its wines are very appetizing on the international markets."

Personally, I'm a fan of Chilean, Spanish and Argentinian wines.

Mona Island

2006-04-17T09:25:00.000-05:00

People fleeing Cuba have found another way to make it into the U.S. - Mona Island.

Reaction to Protests

2006-04-17T09:12:00.000-05:00

From the New York Times:

As lawmakers set aside the debate on immigration legislation for their spring recess, the protests by millions around the nation have escalated the policy debate into a much broader battle over the status of the country's 11 million illegal immigrants. While the marches have galvanized Hispanic voters, they have also energized those who support a crackdown on illegal immigration.

A Request, Not A Demand

2006-04-14T15:16:00.000-05:00

Charles Krauthammer:

The principal crime involved in the immigrant crusade is the violation of immigration laws by the illegals themselves.
To be sure, that is not a high crime. But it does not behoove one who has stealthily stolen into another's house to then make demands about rights -- or to march under the banner of "The National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice."
Justice? On what grounds do those who come into a country illegally claim rights? They seek good will and understanding. And Americans might give it -- but on request, not on demand.
Martin Luther King had a case for justice that was utterly incontrovertible, yet he always appealed to the better angels of America's nature. It is all the more important for illegals, whose claims rest not on justice but on compassion, to appeal to American generosity, openness and idealism.

Polling on Immigration

2006-04-14T14:39:00.000-05:00

Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard:

In a national survey in early April, the Washington Post/ABC News uncovered an astonishing level of backing for major reform. Asked whether they favored earned citizenship, only a guest worker program, or a sharp crackdown on illegal immigrants, 63 percent preferred earned citizenship, 14 percent a guest worker scheme, and only 20 percent for charging illegal immigrants with a felony and denying them work.

New Arrivals

2006-04-14T13:54:00.000-05:00

Mary Anastasia O'Grady of the Wall Street Journal (subscription), reporting form a backyard pig roast in Florida celebrating the arrival of Cuban refugees:

Anyone who truly wants to understand why walls and border guards and threats of felony charges aren't likely to change the dynamics of U.S. immigration really ought to spend some time with new arrivals, as I did last Saturday. What you learn from migrants is that escaping the dead-end life of privation and bad government is only part of what pushes them to set sail. An equally powerful force is the irresistible attraction of America, a pull so strong that it brings the voyagers through perils they are extremely lucky to survive. What you learn from their American employers is the unequaled value placed on these tenacious and grateful newcomers as employees.

Immigrants Rebuilding New Orleans

2006-04-14T07:58:00.000-05:00

From the Seattle Times:

Hispanic workers have gutted, roofed and painted houses, and hauled away garbage, debris and downed trees. Illegal immigrants have installed trailers to house returning evacuees at New Orleans City Park, their pay coming from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) subcontractors.
"It's all illegals doing this work," said Rey Mendez, a FEMA trailer subcontractor from Honduras.
No one knows how many Hispanic immigrants are in New Orleans, but John Logan, a Brown University demographer who has studied the city since Katrina hit, said, "There must be 10,000 to 20,000 immigrant workers in the region by now, and the number is going to grow."
As the Senate debates new immigration laws and marchers demonstrate across the country, these immigrants offer another reminder of the country's reliance on illegal immigrants from Latin America.

Soft Heart, Hard Head

2006-04-13T15:53:00.000-05:00

Peggy Noonan:

To love immigrants is not to believe America has no right to decide who can come to America and become a citizen. America has always decided who comes here. That's why it all worked.
While the marchers seemed to be good people, and were very likable, the march itself, I think, violated the old immigrant politesse--the general understanding that you're not supposed to get here and immediately start making demands. It would never have occurred to my grandparents to demand respect. They thought they had to earn it. It would never have occurred to them to air mass grievances, assert rights, issue a list of legislative demands. Especially if they were here unlawfully.
I happen to think America in general has deep affection for immigrants, knows they are part of the dynamic, a part of our growth and our endless coming-into-being. But when your heart is soft, and America's is, your head must be hard.
We are a sovereign nation operating under the rule of law. That, in fact, is why many immigrants come here. They come from places where the law, such as it is, is corrupt, malleable, limiting. Does it make sense to subvert our own laws to facilitate the entrance of those in pursuit of government by law? Whatever our sentiments and sympathies as individuals, America has the right, and the responsibility, to protect the integrity of its borders, to make the laws by which immigrants are granted entrance, and to enforce those laws.
I think open-borders proponents are, simply, wrong.

Immigration NOT a Felony

2006-04-13T09:34:00.000-05:00

From USAToday:

A pledge by Republican leaders that they will not push to make illegal immigration a felony is unlikely to defuse opposition to proposed immigration and border security legislation, lawmakers on both sides said Wednesday...
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, one of five Hispanic Republicans in the House, hailed the promise to eliminate a plan that was "offensive, excessive and demonized hard-working immigrants."

Election Issue: Immigration

2006-04-13T08:09:00.000-05:00

From the Wall Street Journal (subscription):

While the fight over illegal immigration roils Washington, the issue is spilling out into local, state and federal races across the country. But the response isn't monolithic. Even as a number of House Republicans are expected to face a backlash from Hispanic and other voters for their tough approach, some candidates are adopting hard-line positions in a bid to portray incumbents as weak on illegal immigration. For now, the issue is percolating largely in Republican primaries but is expected to affect campaigns across the board as the November midterm elections approach.
"It's coming up everywhere and at the very least, there won't be a debate where this is not a big question," said Jennifer Duffy, of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
In past campaigns, immigration has been an issue in border states like Arizona and places with a high percentage of Hispanics. But political observers say recent mass demonstrations by immigrants, an influx of foreign-born workers into the heartland and the political divide in Washington have caused voters to focus more on it than in the past.

The Demonstrations

2006-04-12T14:16:00.000-05:00

From the Economist (U.K.):

There are reasons for hoping that calmer voices will prevail. First, the demonstrators have shown themselves sensitive to non-Hispanic America's fears. After complaints that too many Mexican flags appeared at previous marches (which some Americans said hinted at divided loyalties and perhaps even at plans for a stealthy reconquista of the parts of the south-western United States that used to be Mexican), the organisers this time persuaded most flag-carriers to wave the Stars and Stripes. Some formed human pyramids to wave it higher.
Second, the immigrants have aspirations most Americans can relate to. A new survey found that 92% worked, 98% wanted to learn English and 96% were happy to be fingerprinted and subjected to a criminal background check as part of a process that might lead to them becoming legal citizens.
Thirdly, as the marchers put it: “Today we march, tomorrow we vote.” Illegals can't vote, of course, but many have relatives who can. Some politicians, from both parties, are eagerly courting the Latino vote. “I look across this historic gathering and I see the future of America,” boomed Ted Kennedy to the marchers in Washington.

Backlash

2006-04-12T10:05:00.000-05:00

From the Washington Post:

In the wake of this week's massive demonstrations, many House Republicans are worried that a tough anti-illegal-immigration bill they thought would please their political base has earned them little benefit while becoming a lightning rod for the fast-growing national movement for immigrant rights.

They're right to be worried!

Undocumented Students

2006-04-12T09:44:00.000-05:00

Interesting article about students without permanent status and the Dream Act:

Marisol Conde-Hernandez had big ambitions after graduating at the top of her class at South Brunswick High School in New Jersey.
She wants to attend Princeton University and she'd eventually like to earn a master's degree in sociology.
But Conde-Hernandez, 19, is in the United States illegally, even though she's spent most of her life in New Jersey. She stands little chance of realizing her goals unless Congress changes immigration law.
"That's the only real chance I have," she said.

Small Businesses & Immigration

2006-04-12T09:16:00.000-05:00

From Small Business Review:

What do small business owners want to see? It depends on where they stand politically and economically—and, often, geographically. According to a study released last week by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, business owners are evenly split on whether to create an amnesty/guest worker program that would allow undocumented aliens who are employed to remain in the country.

Cheat Sheet

2006-04-11T09:59:00.000-05:00

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez deals with some misconceptions about Hispanics and immigrants.

American Flags

2006-04-11T09:47:00.000-05:00

Nathan Smith (again):

We're used to seeing swarthy, foreign-speaking young men burning American flags to vent their rage. It doesn't affect us anymore. But to see swarthy, foreign-speaking young men -- and women, and children, by the thousands -- waving the American flag, proudly, to see them draping it over their shoulders, and wearing it on T-shirts -- are you ready for that? I wasn't. It almost brought me to tears.

Immigrants and Hypomaniacs

2006-04-11T09:39:00.000-05:00

Some thoughts on immigrants' genes from Professor John D. Gartner:

America is an amazing natural experiment -- a continent populated largely by self-selected immigrants. All these people had the get-up-and-go to pull up stakes and come here, a temperament that made them different from their friends and relatives who stayed home. Immigrants are the original venture capitalists, risking their human capital -- their lives -- on a dangerous and arduous voyage into the unknown.
Not surprisingly, given this entrepreneurial spirit, immigrants are self-employed at much higher rates than native-born people, regardless of what nation they emigrate to or from. And the rate of entrepreneurial activity in a nation is correlated with the number of immigrants it absorbs. According to a cross-national study, "The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor," conducted jointly by Babson College and the London School of Economics, the four nations with the highest per capita creation of new companies are the United States, Canada, Israel and Australia -- all nations of immigrants. New company creation per capita is a strong predictor of gross domestic product, and so the conclusion is simple: Immigrants equal national wealth.

Colonia Dignidad

2006-04-11T09:28:00.000-05:00

From BBC News:

A Chilean judge has indicted 18 people linked to a former German colony in southern Chile over human rights abuses committed during military rule.
Among them are two former commanders of the Chilean secret police, as well as Paul Schaefer, the colony's founder.
The judge says the security services used the sprawling property to hide kidnapped dissidents.

Rudy Giuliani

2006-04-10T16:23:00.000-05:00

Some think Rudy Giuliani is the only hope the GOP has of reconciling the feuding factions on the issue of immigration:

The hard-line positions on both sides of the immigration debate are untenable...
Giuliani is uniquely qualified to reconcile these two positions.

I'm less sanguine.

LatAm: Populism = Corruption

2006-04-10T16:18:00.000-05:00

Dr. Martin Krause:

After reviewing a number of indicators such as indexes of economic freedom, globalization, transparency, rule of law, regulatory opacity, human rights, competitiveness, access to technology and others, it seems clear Latin America lags behind in many of these, with the exception of Chile.
The common factor among all these countries is an old disease by the name of "populism." What is that exactly?...
Populism is the absence of constraints, of rules of conduct in the public arena which is the other side of corruption. Populist leaders built their own constituencies, their own political structures, and their own mafias at the same time.
The result of this is what is usually called "lack of institutions." Governmental decisions are at the whim of the populist leaders, subject to his ideas or his interests -- undermining legal stability. Things can change radically from one day to the next.

Elections in Venezuela

2006-04-10T09:33:00.000-05:00

From Jackson Diehl of the Washington Post:

Hugo Chavez, who is up for reelection as Venezuelan president this year, kicked off his new campaign with an old tactic: criminal trials of his leading opponents.

We're Losing the Brain Race

2006-04-10T08:46:00.000-05:00

Steven Clemons and Michael Lind:

Congress seems to believe that while the United States must be protected from an invasion of educated, bright and ambitious foreign college students, scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs, we can never have too many low-wage fruit-pickers and dishwashers.
In making immigration laws, Congress caters to cheap-labor industries like agribusiness and sweatshop manufacturing while shortchanging the high-tech, high-wage industries on which the future of the American economy depends. Witness the Senate bill's provision to admit 400,000 temporary workers a year, or roughly four million a decade, in addition to the 12 million mostly low-wage illegal immigrants already here, many of whose status would be legalized. Few if any of those guest workers would go to universities, corporate campuses or innovation clusters like Silicon Valley. They would head straight to restaurants, hotels and plantation-like farms.
While the United States perversely tries to corner the market in uneducated hotel maids and tomato harvesters, other industrial democracies are reshaping their immigration policies to invite the skilled immigrants that we turn away. Britain is following Australia and Canada in adopting a points system that gives higher scores to skilled immigrants with advanced education and proficiency in English. British, Canadian, German and even French universities are overflowing in undergraduate and graduate enrollment as they absorb the foreign talent that America is repelling.

The Governator Speaks

2006-04-10T08:33:00.000-05:00

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER:

I salute the members of both parties in Congress who are conducting a civil, serious discussion on this issue. I urge them to agree on legislation based on a simple philosophy: control of the border . . . and compassion for the immigrant. These are the twin pillars around which we must construct a new immigration policy. They are both essential elements in our overall immigration strategy. Without both, our strategy is destined to collapse.

LatAm Leftists Hurt Markets

2006-04-10T07:59:00.000-05:00

From MarketWatch:

[Latin American] Governments – driven by pressure from poorer voters who feel they are missing out on the prosperity – are seizing a bigger share of the action. "Latin America has become the prime stage for resource nationalism," says Michelle Billig, analyst at PIRA, a New York-based energy consultancy.
If Mr [Ollanta] Humala does win Peru's election and then carry through threats to intervene it will be the latest blow to international companies and raw materials producers, with examples of radical action coming thick and fast...
Earlier this year Venezuela's radical anti-American government imposed new tough operating contracts on more than two-dozen foreign oil companies. Last week it took control of two oilfields operated by Eni and Total after the Italian and French companies refused to comply in time with the new rules. Bolivia's newly-elected President Evo Morales has already benefited from cash generated by a new 50 per cent "take" (tax and royalties) on gas output imposed in 2005 on gas output and says he will nationalize the industry – which controls South America's second largest reserves of natural gas – later this year. Argentina's Néstor Kirchner has imposed export taxes and other restrictions on exporters of soya, wheat and meat. And the Ecuadorean legislature is discussing new rules that will significantly increase its take from oil contracts.

Guest Worker Programs Don't Work

2006-04-10T07:51:00.000-05:00

Ruben Navarrete:

There are practical reasons why guest-worker programs don't work:
• Workers don't leave. While the workers are supposed to be temporary, they stick around. They get married, have kids and put down roots. As former U.S. senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming used to say, there is nothing more permanent than a temporary worker.
• Backlash never abates. Because these temporary workers never leave, a guest-worker program doesn't really put an end to the thing that gets Americans all worked up in the first place — the changing culture and complexion of towns and neighborhoods.
• Exploitation happens. Guest workers are ripe for abuse because if employers were to provide things such as housing, prevailing wages, health care and worker's compensation insurance, that would undermine the whole idea behind the program: cheap labor. Once labor isn't so cheap anymore, expect employers to lose interest.
• Illegal immigration continues. Most guest-worker plans deal in the hundreds of thousands. As long as millions of immigrants want to come to the USA and can fill millions of jobs, such a limited approach would never end illegal entry.
Congress should forget about importing new guest workers, or granting a wholesale amnesty to all 12 million illegal workers already here, and focus on reforms that stand a chance of working.
Here's a four-point plan to add to the mix:
1) Stiffen penalties against employers, including jail time, and enforce them for a change.
2) Beef up the ranks of the border patrol by 25%.
3) Increase the allotment of green cards and work visas to allow people to come in legally.
4) Grant legal status to some but not all illegal immigrants, the preference going to those who have been here the longest and who have immediate family members who are U.S. citizens.
And, lastly, let's accept the idea that, in this debate, there are no easy solutions or free lunches.

Immigrants Pay Taxes

2006-04-09T17:01:00.000-05:00

Linda Chavez:

[The] overwhelming majority of illegal aliens pay taxes, including Social Security, Medicare and property taxes, not to mention sales taxes. The chief actuary of the Social Security Administration estimates that three-fourths of all illegal aliens have Social Security (and Medicare) taxes deducted from their wages. How? It's simple.
Since it is illegal to hire someone who does not present a Social Security number (and show other documentation of legal residence), many illegal aliens use phony numbers or cards to get jobs. In 2002 alone, the Social Security Administration reported it had collected $7 billion in payroll taxes and $1.5 billion in Medicare taxes from workers who could not be matched with valid Social Security numbers.
In addition, illegal aliens pay property taxes just like everyone else, either directly, if they own homes (and surprising numbers of illegal aliens do), or indirectly through their landlords' property taxes in the form of rent. Most illegal aliens pay income taxes -- since these, too, are automatically deducted -- but they fail to claim any refunds since they are fearful of drawing attention to their illegal status.

Enforcing Immigration Laws

2006-04-09T16:53:00.000-05:00

Alan Reynolds:

Those who talk tough about enforcing our immigration laws need to first understand just how ridiculous those laws really are. Then they need to explain just how they would go about enforcing those ridiculous laws and why tough enforcement would not simply increase the incentive to hide.
The House wants to declare illegal immigration a felony. Did the House actually expect law enforcement to attempt arresting an estimated 5.4 million men and 3.9 million women and sending them to federal prisons? What would we do with their 1.8 million kids?
Many illegal immigrants can hardly imagine a more luxurious life than a federal prison. If Congress invited Central America's poorest young men to a prepaid vacation at Club Fed, they would gladly volunteer by the millions.

More Visas for Skilled Workers

2006-04-09T16:28:00.000-05:00

Nicholas Kristoff (subscription):

The 1986 immigration amnesty ended up bringing in waves of unskilled workers. They care for our children and mow our lawns. But as they raise living standards for many of us, they lower the living standards of [poor] Americans...
That's a trade-off we need to face squarely. The impulse behind immigration reforms is a generosity that I admire. But the cold reality is that admitting poor immigrants often means hurting poor Americans. We can salve the pain with job programs for displaced Americans, but the fundamental trade-off is unavoidable...
So let's go ahead and regularize longtime illegals, rather than leaving them forever in the shadows. But instead of bringing in a new flood of guest workers, let's recast our generosity more toward biologists and computer programmers. The H1-B visa program enriches America by bringing in high-tech workers, but the nominal ceiling on these visas has dropped to 65,000, after temporarily rising to 195,000 in the 1990's. That's the immigration flow to expand.

OpinionJournal has an excellent response to the argument that immigrant labor hurts poor Americans.