April 17, 2003

Are divided loyalties a good thing?

From "Dual citizenship for Mexicans? Fox government wants permanent right for immigrants to divide their loyalties":

The Mexican government is planning to change its constitution to establish a permanent right for those born in Mexico and living in other nations to obtain dual citizenship, a move criticized by some U.S. immigration experts as counterproductive to American interests...

David Ray, communications director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said there could be dire political and cultural implications for the U.S.

"There's a growing number of U.S. citizens whose umbilical cord is attached to the Mexican government," he told WorldNetDaily. "That will have huge political ramifications in upcoming U.S. domestic policy debates, particularly in immigration and trade."

Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, also believes Mexican dual citizenship will have a negative impact on the U.S.

"In the words of Theodore Roosevelt, dual citizenship is a 'self-evident absurdity,'" Krikorian told WND in an interview. "You can no more be a genuine citizen of two countries than you can adhere to two different religions at the same time."

Ray described the dual citizenship concept as "an overall strategy" by Mexico City to "leverage its political clout � through pressure and mobilization of their dual citizens."

"It's really unprecedented in American history the amount of direct lobbying that's going on here by the Mexican government to obtain their political goals," he said. "There's an increased move for dual citizenship. You have [Fox] lobbying [the U.S. government] for an amnesty for illegal immigrants. You have Mexican consulates pushing for recognition of the 'matricula consular' cards, which are issued to illegal immigrants. You have the consulates pushing for in-state tuition for illegal alien Mexican students..."

[Krikorian] sees a Mexican agenda: "This is part of a broader Mexican campaign, not to reconquer lost territories but to establish a kind of shared sovereignty over part of the American population."

Posted to Immigration2003 at April 17, 2003 11:14 PM

Comments

Yes, I think it is a splendid idea

http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/000588.html

Posted by: Perry de Havilland at April 21, 2003 07:47 AM