A protected class

I was thinking as I was driving home tonight, “How did the illegal aliens get to be a protected class?” It has happened in just the last ten years or so.

When did it happen? Who did it? How were they able to pull it off?

I say it is a recent development because Proposition 187 in California and the report of the US Commission on Immigration Reform came in 1994. In 1996 Congress was getting tough about illegals stealing federal welfare benefits. They certainly weren't considered an asset back then.

In 1997 the Commission on Immigration Reform came back with a final report which was a little softer but still affirmed the illegality of their presence and the negative impact on society.

I think we have to look to a man named Lionel Sosa. Lionel is a political consultant; an advisor to G W Bush. I think Sosa and Rove and Bush decided that they could court the Hispanic vote. It was the next big thing after campaigns to win women voters.

And since Hispanics already had the benefits of a minority group they chose to lure them by promising high immigration quotas, family chain migration, and amnesty for their illegal hermanos. Only they wouldn’t call in amnesty.

Would it work? Well, it worked in 1986. They just need to figure out a way to get credit for it.

But there was stiff competition on the left. The Democrats were naturalizing Latinos in 1995-96 to win Clinton a second term.

Suddenly you had both parties calling at the brown door. And both of them were promising amnesty. It wasn’t bipartisan support for the idea; it was both parties swapping promises for votes.

And enforcement took a back seat. And, like a drug, business got hooked on cheap labor. And the unions didn’t see growth anywhere else so they came calling, too.

Well, it worked. Here’s the actual level of illegal alien entry as reported by Homeland Security in August of this year:
1980-1984 910,000 (182K per year)
1985-1989 1,270,000 (254K per year)
1990-1994 1,980,000 (396K per year)
1995-1999 3,254,000 (648K per year)
2000-2005 4,160,000 (693K per year)

Now, these are Homeland Security numbers and they are notorious for understating the problem. They add up to about 11.5 million. That’s a little lean but it still proves the point.

Once Washington started making deals and promises, more illegals started making the trip. Add to the rhetoric coming out of Washington the improved communications that exist today. Cell phones, satellites, Internet (with video), and cheap airfare. Everyone here telling family there that they can make ten times the money here, get free medical care, and live pretty much hassle-free. You’ve even got Senators and the President vouching for you.

Yes, they have been lured here by the politicians seeking the vote of their cousins already here. No wonder they keep talking about guest workers, amnesty, and how valuable they are to the economy. They would rather sweep it under the rug than own up to the fact they were playing games with our country.

Unfortunately for them, far too many of us have figured out what they have done. It will be a long, bitter fight on this issue.