Friday, February 17, 2023

The Status of Immigration: Poll Show Americans Have Had Enough!

According to the article, "Americans Sour on Immigration", written by Casey Harper of The Center Square (formerly known as Watchdog.Org), a conservative oriented website owned by the Franklin News Foundation, a recent Gallup poll shows voter support for maintaining the current immigration level has dropped.

The poll indicates that the approval level has declined from 34% to just 28%. It hadn't been this low since 2007 when it dropped even lower, to 23% (the highest it has been was 41% in 2018). Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. Last year (2022), the United States took in just over one million legal immigrants.

The majority came from India, Mexico, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. 25,000 of new arrivals were refugees. Over the preceding 18 months, around 150,000 illegal immigrants crossed into the U.S. according to information released by United States Customs and Border Protection.  The Department of Homeland Security also stated that in the second quarter of 2022, roughly 221,000 "non citizens" were given lawful permanent status to remain in the U.S..

Many immigrants come from Mexico, however, increasing percentages are arriving from Central and South America; countries like Columbia, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. In fact, the majority of immigrants illegally trying to cross our southern border are coming from Venezuela, replacing Mexico as the origin of most illegal immigrants.

The primary reason most often cited is the collapse of the Venezuelan economy following the death of President Hugo Chavez in 2013 and the imposition of strict restrictions by the U.S. government (an example of reaping the whirlwind?).

The most cited reason is economic and political hardship (as an aside, economic hardship is not generally accepted as legitimate reason to claim refugee status).   In addition, individuals arriving from Caribbean (such as El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, also known as the "Northern Triangle") have also been on the rise.

They too cite the economy (in part due to horrific damage cause by increasingly severe hurricanes) as the main reason along with the usual political corruption. These areas underdeveloped economically and are dependent on tourism to keep their economies afloat, but thanks to COVID-19, tourism dropped to a fraction of what it used to be due to travel restrictions  and cancellations by cruise ship companies.

Most of those coming here illegally are settling in Florida, Texas, Arizona (places already with large Hispanic populations) as well as North Carolina. There are also large migratory populations to be found in more rural states like Kentucky, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska.

It's also worth noting that there has also been a substantial increase in individuals from Asian countries coming to America illegally as well with India and China being the top two, followed by Korea and Vietnam.

At present, around 14.6% of the U.S. population are foreign born, which is the highest percentage in 112 years. That translates to about 48 million individuals (legal and illegal) as of September 2022 and a 2.9 million increase since the beginning of the Biden Administration according to the Center for Immigration Studies.  Some 900,000 have gone on to become American citizens according to a report from Pew Research from 2022.

Along with the 48 million immigrants, there were 17.2 million "children" (those under 18 years of age) with a foreign born parent. Therefore, including the immigrant and their children, that account for  approximately one in five U.S. residents.

It's worth noting, particularly given the prevalence of "help wanted" signs appearing in nearly every business window or on every telephone poll, that of the 48 million immigrants in the U.S. roughly half---27.4 million---were employed. This represents two million prior to the COVID-19 crisis. It's worth noting too that most are considered to be hardworking.

In fact, several surveys have shown that most illegal immigrants don't want to become U.S. citizens. They don't want to "blend in" with other Americans, including learning English. They are here solely for the money. Nothing more. Many send a portion back home to support their family.

 In some cases, entire communities are at least partly supported by money sent home by their sons and daughters working in America. If they get caught, so what? They get a free physical paid for by U.S. taxpayers, a good meal, and free trip back home (along with any money earned while here in the States).  Once home many repeat the process all over again a few days or weeks later.

So, what's the takeaway? What are we to make of this?  Well, America has always been the number one "go to" destination for immigrants---legal or illegal. America was, after all, founded by and for immigrants.

No other nation in history (except perhaps Ancient Rome) has had the influx of migrants as we have had. It can truly be said that nearly every country, race, ethnicity, and religion can be found somewhere in this country. I suspect that every language and nearly every dialect can be found here too.

However, America was intended to be a "melting pot". People who came here did so with the intent of becoming "American". To become a U.S. citizen was the goal of nearly everyone who stepped off the boat. Most did their best to learn the language (with varying degrees of success). It was part of what it meant to be American. They did their upmost to adapt to the prevailing customs, laws, and traditions as best as they could.

They tried  to leave behind centuries of hatreds, feuds, and other prejudices. Some changed their names and others their religions. Many married not just out of their social class, but often our their own nationality. This was an opportunity to start completely anew. 

While certain traditions were kept by these new migrants, the objective was to become part of the giant American "melting pot", where our collective backgrounds were added together to create this new being called "American". However, sometime around the 1960's this began to change.

Instead of trying to blend in and part of this nation, we encouraged immigrants to keep their own languages, cultures, traditions, and values. It would be us who would adapt; who would accommodate you.  In time, we began to accept their refusal to blend in and to excuse away their laws and customs even when it came in conflict with our own in the name of "multiculturalism".

Immigrants now can refuse to have their children taught in English, opting instead to have a taxpayer tutor teach them in their former tongue. We provide instructions in a multitude of languages. Even phone recordings are in different languages, which wouldn't be so bad I suppose except we are suppose to "push one" to hear English. As an aside, I won't do it. If you briefly wait, it will continue on in English.  

While we should try to be accommodating, we shouldn't remove the incentive to learn the language spoken here by making it easy to avoid it. Otherwise, we're simply enabling the separation of our nation into ethnic enclaves. As I've said many times over the years, a common language is the thread which binds the fabric of a nation together. 

Once everyone typically wore generally similar types of clothing. Not anymore! Now it's common to see individuals wear traditional native garb. The problem is that some areas try to impose "modest" dress customs (usually based on religious traditions) on others comes into their neighborhoods as if these are foreign enclaves instead of the U.S.

This is a big deal in Europe which even has its own "morality police" which can arrest and even fine so-called "offenders" (usually women) This topic has recently popped up in New York and other U.S. cities. The same goes for food or drinks where pork products or liquor are served or sold in certain neighborhoods.

This has already happened in Europe too where native restaurants are penalized for offering pork or alcohol on their menus. Sure, you can still get these "off menu", but you have to consume them out of sight of other customers less you risk "offending" them. I'll be damned. Give me a BLT and glass of cold beer and I'll enjoy them both wherever I bloody well please!

I don't begrudge anyone's heritage or beliefs, but they should understand that they are the foreigner. It is therefore up to them to adapt to the traditions, values, customs, and language of the nation which took them in and provided them with an opportunity to start over...not the other way around. If they don't like it, they are free to catch the next flight out. That's one of the pluses about America. You can leave at anytime.

We don't need a poll to tell us that Americans are tired of dealing with this mess just as we're tired of weak willed political stooges ignoring us, but the validation that we're not alone doesn't hurt. I also suspect that many immigrants are just as tired of others, in their self-righteous arrogance, making life harder on them as well. We often see signs at rallies and protests which read "No One is Illegal", which is true. No human being is illegal, however, their actions sometimes are. That's why we have laws. 

 

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Foreign-Born Population Hits nearly 48 Million in September2022


U.S. Immigration---2022 in Review

 

DHS: Legal Immigration and Adjustment of Status ReportFiscal Year 2022 Quarter 2


Ten Graphics That Explain the U.S. Struggle With MigrantFlows in 2022


 

 

 



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