A Few More Words on Immigration

A couple more things: I am tired of people on the Left suggesting that those of us on the Right, especially the people of Arizona, are racist for supporting this recent law. I will acknowledge that it does seem like there is more racism towards Latinos in this country relative to other ethnic groups. To put it bluntly, it is relatively safer, politically, to stereotype them than it is to stereotype Blacks or Muslims, for instance. At the end of the day, though, the people of Border States like Arizona and Texas need to act if the federal government is unwilling to do so.

At the same time, though, our motive (as Conservatives) for solving this problem should not be political, even though that is much easier said than done. Every so often, I hear someone suggest that one of the reasons the GOP should oppose amnesty is that the overwhelming majority of Latino’s in this country vote for the Democratic Party. I have no doubt that the liberals in this country try to pander to Latino’s as they do with many other ethnic groups and minorities. I believe many of these liberals want minorities dependent on the federal government. Yet, by suggesting that we want an immigration crackdown in order to curtail the power of the Democratic Party, we are only lowering ourselves to their level. It also gives the Democrats more ammunition to play the race card against us.

If we, as Conservatives, are so concerned about the Democrats hijacking of the Latino Vote, the Black Vote, the Asian Vote, etc, we should convince the Republican Party to adopt the Big Tent Philosophy that Ronald Reagan did in the 1980’s when he welcomed all into the Grand Old Party. Rather than lowering ourselves to the Democrats’ level, the Republican Party should make a more solid effort to remind all Americans (while not singling out any one group, obviously) that they are more conservative than they are prone to, or often led to, believe. I believe many of them would see the light if we showed them how their lifestyles -- of working hard, going to church, and loving their families – are more Conservative than they are liberal. But we can't just passively think they'll one day wise up if we don't actively help them understand the Truth.