Civil Candor

Is Barack Obama borrowing from John Boehner’s old press releases? Back in 2007, before the economy turned and things got ugly, Boehner made the following remark:

America is a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws–those laws must be obeyed and enforced. [1]

The president used the same words last month in service to a goal very different from Boehner’s:

The truth of the matter is that we are both a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. [2]

The GOP should ban both phrases, and make sure that voters know what they mean. The nation of immigrants slur implies that our roots justify pardoning millions of illegal immigrants who sneaked in while Uncle Sam’s head was turned. Nation of laws means that the Federal Government will continue to look the other way while our immigration laws are violated so the whole system can be labeled “broken,” and replaced with new laws that suit a new agenda. This is how health care reform started, and now we are sweating out the countdown to 2014.

Two-faced legislators and our double speaking president are lamenting the plight of middle class citizens while they make trumped-up claims that illegals are necessary to secure America’s future. President Obama’s Director of Domestic Policy Control talked about immigration reform in a recent White House Blog post:

It was inspiring to hear about the important work already underway – work that will build the momentum for immigration reform critical to our economic future, global competitiveness, and national security interests. [3]

In a development distressing to those of us whose roots are not in Latin America, Latinos have been chosen to save America from the quagmire of economic failure:

The only way we can achieve these goals is to clearly understand that the future of America is inextricably linked to the future of the Latino community. [4]

The problem is that Latino students are not in any shape to save America’s future. A joint White House/Department of Education publication claims that:

Overall, Latinos have the lowest education attainment level of any group in the U.S. [5]

Figures from 2009 show that half of U.S. workers coming from Latin America had not earned a high school diploma or equivalent. [6] The numbers are dismal:

To a considerable extent, educational attainment determines the role of foreign-born workers in the labor market. In 2009, 70 percent of workers born in Mexico and Central America were employed in occupations that have minimal educational requirements, such as construction laborer and dishwasher; only 23 percent of native-born workers held such jobs. [7]

Over 6.5 million of our estimated 10.79 million illegal aliens came from Mexico, and El Salvador and Guatemala accounted for 1.14 million more. [8] Given the lack of educational attainment in this group of illegals, government press releases claim that we need to legitimize their children so they can become highly educated workers:

These young people, who were brought to America by their parents when they were children, can be our future scientists, doctors, military leaders, and entrepreneurs.  America’s economic future depends on giving these children an opportunity to advance and succeed. [9]

Deceptive information promoting the president’s Winning the Future initiative suggests that America’s survival depends on immigration reform. Before illegal immigrants can save our sorry backsides, though, they need to be highly educated, and they must become citizens.  Given the good chance that  illegal immigrant parents have jobs that do not pay a lot of money, someone will have to pay to educate their children. Unless the government can prove that children of middle class Americans are inherently dumber than illegal aliens, it will make infinitely more sense to taxpayers to pay to educate their own kids. This is where the GOP needs to get involved.

Republican leaders should be shouting to the rafters about the lies implicit in arguments for immigration reform that are not about winning anything but votes. The only future that matters to proponents is the future of the Democratic Party. Immigration reform rhetoric stinks of political opportunism, but opportunism will win over complacency every time.

1..Speaker of the House John Boehner. Boehner Calls for Stronger Border Protections, Full Enforcement of Immigration Laws. May 22, 2007. http://www.speaker.gov/news/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=65713.

2..The White House. Office of the Press Secretary. Remarks by the President at a Facebook Town Hall. April 20, 2011.  http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/20/remarks-president-facebook-town-hall.

3..The White House Blog. Working Together to Create a 21^st Century Immigration System. April 20, 2011. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/20/working-together-create-21st-century-immigration-system.

4..The White House Blog. Presidential “Latinos and Education” Town Hall – A Key to Winning the Future. March 28, 2011. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/03/28/presidential-latinos-and-education-town-hall-key-winning-future.

5..U.S. Department of Education and White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. Winning the Future. Improving Education for the Latino Community. April 2011. p. 2.

6..Congressional Budget Office. The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market: An Update. July 2010. p. 1.

7..Ibid.

8..Department of Homeland Security. Population Estimates. February 2011. Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2010.

9..The White House Blog. The DREAM Act and American Commerce. December 13, 2010. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/12/13/dream-act-and-american-commerce.