Andres Oppenheimer's five "myths" of the "anti-immigration movement"

Andres Oppenheimer of the Miami Herald - previously featured here for warning about a "Latino Intifada" unless we give millions of illegal aliens an amnesty - now offers "Five myths of anti-immigration talk", such as:

Myth No. 1: ''We are only against illegal immigration. Undocumented immigrants should get in line for visas.'' That's deceptive because you can't demand that people get into line when, for the most part, there is no line to get into... While the U.S. labor market is demanding 1.5 million mostly low-skilled immigrants a year -- and will demand many more in coming years, as the U.S. population becomes increasingly educated -- the current immigration system allows into the U.S. an average of one million legal immigrants a year, and most of them are already here... ''There is a huge mismatch between what the U.S. labor market needs and the supply of immigration visas,'' says Frank Sharry, head of the National Immigration Forum, which advocates both secure borders and a path to legal residence for many of the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Perhaps there's a reason why there isn't a line for massive numbers of low-skilled workers and/or massive immigration from Mexico, yet AO doesn't go into that. And the "market" demands are based on a crooked market, where employers have been able to obtain labor thanks to corrupt politicians who refuse to enforce our laws or try to subvert them. Perhaps it's bad public policy to import massive amounts of low-skilled workers while the rest of us sit on our verandas watching them toil in the fields. And, Sharry isn't exactly as moderate a voice as AO tries to portray him. In another "myth", AO references "studies" from the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Both "studies" are riddled with holes and the second group has an indirect link to the Mexican government.

He also quotes Michelle Waslin, previously with the National Council of La Raza and now with the Immigration Policy Center.

"Anybody who is Hispanic-looking or has an Hispanic last name is being treated as an undocumented immigrant."

To the extent that that's true, those groups and pundits who support illegal immigration are partially responsible. They've helped to racialize illegal immigration, turning it from an issue of law into an issue of ethnic identity. And, they've continally tried to blur the lines between legal and illegal immigration.

The other "myths" could be taken apart, but it's not really worth it.

Immigration2008a · Mon, 01/14/2008 - 08:37 · Importance: 3