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This Border Bill the Best Border Bill; Set it Up Now for Incoming Congress
THE BEST AND STRONGEST border-protection bill is pending before eight (count ’em) House committees and, while there is virtually no chance of final action this year, it is important to push hard now for “momentum” in the new Congress to be seated in January.
Some Democrats got elected to the House in 2006 by acting like Republicans, opposing gun laws and supporting immigration reform without amnesty for illegal aliens already here. Among these are Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), author of the present bill. It will be tough.
The new Congress may have more of a leftward tilt and the current Congress has accomplished nothing. But immigration reform is urgent, and action is critical to the future of the United States. According to new Census Bureau estimates, Latinos are taking over the country, not only by entering illegally, but by having children in numbers above the present reproduction rate of white Americans. Taxpayers provide free medical care for pregnant illegals.
Hispanics are the largest-growing minority group, and account for one in five children younger than 5. “Hispanics have both a larger proportion of people in their child-bearing years and tend to have slightly more children,” said Jeffrey Passel of the Pew Hispanic Center and co-author of a study predicting that the Hispanic population will double from 15 percent today to 30 percent by 2050.
“So this means that in five years, a quarter of the 5- to 9-year-olds will be Hispanic, and in 10 years a quarter of the 10- to 14-year-olds will be Hispanic,” he said. “It’s just going to move up through the age distribution with each successive cohort being slightly more Hispanic.” (This presumes no more Hispanics cross the border illegally, which is obviously not going to happen.)
Researchers warn that the high poverty rate of U.S.-born Latino students and the fact that many are reared by immigrant parents poses challenges to their education and integration into U.S. society.
“Based on what we know, many in this population may not be growing up speaking English in their homes,” said Margie McHugh of the Migration Policy Institute in Washington. In a recent study, she found that 75 percent of students in Los Angeles with limited English proficiency were born in this country.
At this rate, your children will not recognize the country in which you were born. Whites will soon become the minority. Hispanics, blacks and Asians will make up the majority. Since much higher percentages of Latinos and blacks are uneducated, poor and more likely to engage in criminal activities, government expenses will skyrocket.
Hearings are now under way on the Shuler bill, and Republicans have filed a discharge petition to force a House vote. While the bill is bipartisan, more Republicans than Democrats are backing it, notable among them Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Col.). Tancredo, the son of legal immigrants, is the most vocal lawmaker calling for strong border protection.
To force a floor vote, 218 House members must sign the discharge petition. Thirty-two more signatures are needed—grab your phone.
(Issue # 20, May 19, 2008)
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