California's Immigration Politics of the Early 90's, Goes National--It's Deja Vu All Over Again

The tragic thing is that California has a very rich history of immigrant-bashing. The 1990s weren't the first instance, not even the first time that Latinos were targeted. In fact Mexicans were the target of the very first anti-immigrant movement, in 1850 when white miners who discovered that California's gold rush was more hype than substance vented their anger on Mexicans - here legally under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - by passing a Foreign Miner's Tax, and harassing Mexican families in the Sierra foothills.

That set the trend. Later in the 1850s Gov. Leland Stanford put a bounty on Indian scalps, leading to the rapid depopulation of Native peoples from central and Northern California. In the 1870s, the target of white wrath were Chinese workers, and again the Mexican populations. In 1879, the new state constitution not only restricted Chinese rights, but stripped Spanish speakers of many of the language rights the 1849 constitution had granted them. In fact, although Mexicans played a prominent role in California politics from 1849 to the 1870s, with several serving as governor, they were driven out of politics and their lands confiscated by 1880.

In the 1900s Japanese were the target of immigrant bashing, and Filipinos were next in the 1910s. The 1930s kicked off with perhaps the worst instance of immigrant-bashing: the roundup and deportation of over 1 million Californians of Mexican ancestry from LA and other areas, a large number of whom were US-born citizens. The 1930s closed with a movement against the white migrants from Oklahoma and Arkansas who came to California fleeing the Dust Bowl.

The prosperity of the 1950s and 1960s meant that immigrant-bashing subsided for a generation, but by the 1970s complaints about illegal immigration from Mexico had surfaced. By the late 1980s, as Latinos from all parts of the Americas had begun building thriving new communities across the state, immigrant-bashing kicked into high gear, peaking in the phenomenon Schrag described here.

The sad irony is that never - not once - did any of these waves of immigrant bashing ever improve the economic condition of those who were carrying out the attacks. California's economy has ebbed and flooded alongside national trends, and study after study - whether conducted by historians studying the past or economists studying the present - has proved that immigration was never the cause of, nor the cure to, any of the state's periods of bust.

It's horrifying to watch this ugly cycle repeat itself yet again in the 2000s.

This write-up is borderline ludicrous in its conclusion and is clearly not rooted in any form of reality I've seen. The article portrays Californians as ho-hum about the rate of illegal immigration with a 'who cares if we're overrun with illegal immigrants - we got over that with Pete Wilson' attitude. Also, it's suggested that Californians don't notice the 'browning of our complexion' anymore. Hmm. I wonder about that.

The article also suggests that Californians are almost proud about the fact that Latinos will become a majority within a few decades in their state (providing the current immigration problems continue). He then comes to the conclusion that Southerners and Midwesterners won't mind handing their states over to the Latinos in the end, either. After all, some federal court probably won't let them stop them. This is very myopic - and don't forget that the federal courts outside the 9th Circuit tend to be far more conservative.

Most of this article's assertions are false. First, consider the key findings of the California Field Poll in March of this year:

- 77% of Californians believe the illegal immigration is a very or somewhat serious problem in California

- 71% favor increasing the number of federal patrol agents on the US/Mexico border

- 63% favor stiff penalties for employers and individuals who hire illegal immigrants

- 53% favor continuing a new policy of having federal immigration agents round up, detain and deport immigrants living in California illegally, compared to just 40% who oppose it.

Like most Americans, Californians don't believe that deporting all illegal immigrants is the answer, but their views on stopping the problem is clearly still very strong.

Couple this with the fact that Californians are generally much more liberal than their Southern and Midwestern counterparts and you have a seriously flawed editorial, Mr. Schrag.

Steve: Have you seen the Gallup Poll that came out today--http://www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=28405 .

Here's the start:

This year's Gallup Minority Rights and Relations poll finds more Americans saying they are dissatisfied than satisfied with the way immigrants are treated in society. Public satisfaction with immigrants' treatment is the lowest Gallup has found for any minority group it has asked about since this annual poll was first conducted in 2001. Hispanics and blacks are especially likely to express displeasure with the treatment of immigrants in the United States. In contrast, Americans are most satisfied with they way Asians and women are treated.

Steve,

Here in Monterey, a stone's throw from my house, the first California Constitution was written in 1849. In attendance were several dozen Mexicans, who chose to remain after the US conquest and be part of building a new California.

Ever since, California has had large numbers of Latinos - mostly of Mexican ancestry but always inclusive of the whole of Latin America - living within its borders. 150 years of unbroken Latino presence in American California. They are as Californian as you or I - any many are MORE Californian than I, as my family has only been here since the 1910s.

Yet you argue here that, somehow, we're "handing our state over to Latinos." That implies that they weren't here before, and two, that somehow this whole immigration debate is about brown skin. Yet I was always told by your ilk that it was strictly about economics, and those of us who said you were merely engaging in racism were just being mean. So which is it?

Finally, nice job cherrypicking that Field Poll. It also showed that *83%* of Californians support legalization of undocumented immigrants. That is a commanding majority, yet it somehow escaped your notice. Odd, that.

I don't understand all of this.

The statistics are out there for ANYBODY to look at yet someone posts a link to "immigrants should be treated better" as if that is some kind of barometer of the dissatisfaction MOST americans feel towards illegal immigration.

Try this. Instead of looking at ways to dissuade us from wanting to CLOSE THE BORDER, get informed yourself. This illegal immigration invasion is hugely detrimental to america. You are supporting big business slave labour and the contention that soon we will have to supply all social services, thus making government bigger and on our way to a progressive new world ie.. socialism/marxism.

This is truly a travesty.

Do you really want to go toe to toe on statistics?

There is a wonderfully simple argument liberals/democrats and even neocons who want globalist agendas use.. "we can't deport all 20million illegals" (yes the real figure).

No, but that doens't mean we give up. We END the incentives. NO welfare, NO birthright citizenship, SECURE the borders.. you end the incentives, you end the flow - they will mostly deport themselves.

Also, if an american goes to jail do you allow a 'free pass' because they have children? This ridiculous argument that "they have children" is such a bunch of rubbish. If they have children, and used the system to secure citizenship and thus eventual sponsorhip, that is stealing. You can't break the law, then benefit from the law and then have you use that as an excuse to have them stay. This is what you do, the parents TAKE THE CHILDREN back to their host country. When the child turn 18, he/she can come back to america as a citizen.

Robert in Monterey, obviously that 83% figure was pulled somewhere other than fact - as you didn't link it so we could verify it. Typical.

People, if you want to learn the TRUTH about illegal immigration and its impact. Learn on your own. There are people here who have an agenda. Check out these sites that have verifiable information. Verifiable. Not a redoing of the truth, or rewording... or demogoguery.

alipac.us
numbersusa.com
usillegalaliens.com

************

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/10/BAG5BP5NEA1.DTL

I'm sure you'll still find some other way to avoid dealing with the fact that only 17% of Californians oppose legalization. If slavery was truly your concern, you would understand that the only way African Americans freed from slavery in the 1860s were able to avoid a return to that condition was when they were given legal status - citizenship - by the 14th Amendment in 1867.

...that many/most of the "immigrants" that Russo and other lefties defend are actually ILLEGAL ALIENS.

Your use of the word "immigrants" is political and your version of politically correct. Don't fog the issue behind "immigrants": Myself and all Americans recognize and appreciate immigrants, LEGAL IMMIGRANTS, to our country.

Can Russo and others call "undocumented immigrants" by their legal status definition as ILLEGAL ALIENS? If they did, I would appreciate their arguments better but to wordsmith titles to help gloss over the dirty truth, that doing something illegal is actually bad but we will look the other way, sorry, you lose your position on points alone.

I wonder, were the voters, you know, that majority rule the left/democrats want in presidential elections and the California budget battle of late; well they DID vote in the majority for Proposition 187 to deny illegal aliens state benefits. Was the majority wrong?

If so, them the majority democrat legislature must also be "wrong" on the budget. Get consistant fellas!

Robert in Monterey, there were some 4400 "latinos" in California in 1848-50 when the US took posession via the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. Since Spain gave Mexico it's independence in 1824, some 24-26 years before the US took over, wouldn't it be logical that a LOT of those 4400 latino's were actually Spainish subjects who only became Mexican by default in 1824 when THEY didn't leave? Mexico back then and through the late 1800's was divided up in a caste system of Penisulares (born in Spain), Carrillos (pure Spainish citizens born in Mexico) and the (their, not my) bottom was Mestizos, a mixture of Spainish/Indian blood. (Indians of pure blood also exsisted but were not recognized by those in charge of Mexico back then, or now even in Chiapas provence; I guess you could say Mexico/Mexicans is/are racist too could you not?).

(Robert, you forgot to mention that the "latinos" here in California in the late 1700s through 1850 (call them Spainish or Mexicans, take your pick) were responsible for setting up the Mission System which placed the native Californian population of indians into slavery and denied them their "heathen ways" to serve the Catholic Church and/or the Spainish Crown/Government. That is also part of our state heritage, Did you forget to mention this or do you only assume white people can perpetrate such acts?)

Don't confuse our state latino heritage of the past, those original 4400 plus LEGAL IMMIGRANTS with today's illegal border crossing 12-20 MILLION ILLEGAL ALIENS. You do our latino heritage, the good parts, and those immigrating legally a major disservice when you combine them thusly.

(By the way, Mexico couldn't have been too sore about "losing" so much territory to the US in the Mexican-American War of 1848-50. Why just 3 years later in 1853, Mexico SOLD MORE LAND to the US without any war or threat of war, the Gadsden Purchase, in southern Arizona. This was another attempt by the Mexican Government to help balance their bankrupt governments coffers by selling land to another nation. These same bad economic straits was partly a cause of the 1848-50 war as well as Maximillion and other foreigners attempts to rule Mexico. Is the Mexican economy/government any better off today? Or is THIS a causal factor in our ILLEGAL ALIEN problem of today?)

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