Obama to announce executive order on immigration

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

North Carolina Yankee's understanding of immigration is facile.

Very few Mexican or Central American immigrants cross the border with the intention of becoming American citizens. The vast majority of undocumented Latinos come to the US in order to send remittances back to Mexico or Guatemala or El Salvador. Implicit in this objective is the notion that immigrants want to return home to be united with their families. Unfortunately, this goal is often unrealized because the act of crossing the border has become a dangerous gauntlet: undocumented immigrants must evade border security, pay a coyote that is most likely linked to the cartels and avoid being kidnapped by cartels. The militarization of the border created the perfect conditions for mass undocumented migration: migrant laborers are effectively barred from visiting their family. The result is that entire families attempt to migrate to the US in order to be re-united with their family members. As this process played out over the past two decades, many Mexican villages became depopulated and immiserated. The death of community life throughout rural Mexico resulted in a positive feedback loop in which the emigration of most young men necessitated the emigration of many young women and children - even the emigration of abuelos!

This process is largely a historical artifact of the period between 1990 and 2008. Mexican immigration has dramatically decreased over the past six years. Mexico's fertility rate has plummeted, the Mexican economy has strengthened and America's construction industry has not picked up.  Although the same factors that created the conditions for mass Mexican immigration are at play in Central America, there is no reason to believe that there will be another wave of mass migration from Central America. In order to cross the border, Central American migrants must traverse the entirety of Mexico. This is not only an arduous journey: it's dangerous. Central American migrants are at constant risk of being kidnapped for ransom by cartels or being sexually assaulted or being robbed.

In short: there is no reason to believe that Obama's executive "amnesty" will result in increased rates of "illegal" immigration. For better or worse, the vast majority of undocumented immigrants are effectively Americans: they contribute to the economic vitality of the nation, they volunteer at schools, they participate in civic life by protesting the injustices they've experienced. Undocumented immigrants play a critical role in communities throughout the United States and we have a duty to treat them with respect. We can either formally integrate undocumented immigrants into society or we can policies more befitting a police state than a nation of immigrants and deport them en masse to a "homeland" that they hardly recognize.  

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Open borders and a liberalized immigration framework are simple solutions for our immigration woes. Alas, these solutions are politically untenable. Judging by the rhetoric that emanates from the mouth-breathing Republicans, you'd assume that "open borders" are synonymous with the death of America. In the 1950s, we had "open borders" and loose immigration restrictions and we did not experience a massive wave of illegal immigration. Quite the contrary: migrant laborers worked in the US and departed for Mexico once the picking season was over.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/10/everything-you-know-about-immigration-is-wrong/

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Why we need "amnesty":







Folks, undocumented immigrants are Americans. They've lived in this country for decades and the future of a generation of Americans depends on their well-being.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

I take offense for those who suggest opposition to amnesty is about race. I can't count the number of Hispanic Americans I've met at tea party rallies, at local GOP events, etc. who oppose amnesty.

Greg Abbott won 44% of the Hispanic vote in Texas, for heaven's sake. How well did John McCain do?

No, most Latinos have no problem with illegal immigration. We love illegal immigrants: they're our friends, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and parents! We certainly don't want them to "go back to where they came from".

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

I trust Latino Decisions over a crosstab result from a NBC poll...