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Open borders gambit 23A: Hispanic servicemen
Around 1994 I was on the late David Brudnoy’s radio program opposite Ben Wattenberg, debating immigration. At the start of the show, Wattenberg struck a conciliatory note, saying that immigration restrictionists such as myself had a legitimate case to make and that they shouldn’t be silenced with name calling. But then, about half way into the hour-long exchange, Wattenberg threw this zinger at me: How could I seek to restrict Mexican immigration, when so many Mexicans had served in the armed forces? I replied: “Mr. Wattenberg, at the start of this show you said that immigration restriction is a legitimate position, but now you’re taking the stand that any attempt to restrict Mexican immigration is automatically illegitimate, because Mexicans have served in the armed forces. By your logic, any critical statement about Hispanic immigration is wrong and immoral.” I was reminded of that incident by a story in the Washington Post. Hispanic servicemen are being featured at the illegal aliens’ rallies, complaining about how unjust it is to talk about deporting their illegal alien relatives, while they themselves are serving in the armed forces.
The lesson: Once you let in a large number of immigrants from some foreign group, taking action that will negatively affect other members of that group becomes far more difficult. Thus we as a nation have effectively lost our freedom of action to the moral claims made on behalf of Hispanic immigrants. We can only win back our freedom by rejecting their moral claims and boldly asserting our own. Email entry |