It’s Not Because They Are Illegal . . . 2

. . . it’s because they are brown.

Oh, yeah. And Catholic.

You want to know what’s happening?

Follow the money:

The forces seeking to sharply reduce the number of immigrants coming to America won a stunning victory last June, when nativist anger at an “amnesty” for the undocumented scuttled a major bipartisan immigration reform package backed by President Bush. Many members of Congress were completely unprepared for the flood of angry E-mails, phone calls and faxes they received — an inundation so massive that the phone system collapsed under the weight of more than 400,000 faxes.

They should not have been surprised. The furious nativist tide was largely driven by an array of immigration restriction organizations that has been built up over the course of more than 20 years into fixtures in the nation’s capital.

The vast majority of these groups were founded or funded by John Tanton, a major architect of the contemporary nativist movement who, 20 years ago, was already warning of a destructive “Latin onslaught” heading to the United States. Most of these organizations used their vast resources in the days leading up to a vote on the bill to stir up a nativist backlash that ultimately resulted in its death.

At the center of the Tanton web is the nonprofit Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the most important organization fueling the backlash against immigration.

Founded by Tanton in 1979, FAIR has long been marked by anti-Latino and anti-Catholic attitudes. It has mixed this bigotry with a fondness for eugenics, the idea of breeding better humans discredited by its Nazi associations. It has accepted $1.2 million from an infamous, racist eugenics foundation. It has employed officials in key positions who are also members of white supremacist groups. Recently, it has promoted racist conspiracy theories about Mexico’s secret designs on the American Southwest and an alternative theory alleging secret plans to merge the United States, Mexico and Canada. Just last February, a senior FAIR official sought “advice” from the leaders of a racist Belgian political party.

Sadly, this country has a long history of nativism, in which sons of immigrants wish to close the doors to subsequent immigration.

As Raymond so ably demonstrated, today’s immigrants are here because they have something to contribute: their labor is taking the place of the labor of us retiring boomers. They aren’t taking, they are giving.

It is not without reason that the first organized nativists earned the name, “Know Nothings,” though it is certain that they did not realize how ironically accurate that name would become.

Frankly, I think we should go back to the immigration policy of the Ellis Island Days. If they can work and otherwise have okay records, let ’em in.

This nation has grown from expanding opportunities for everyone (sometimes, admittedly, under duress–think “The Civil Rights Act of 1964“).

Contracting opportunity is against everything the United States of America is about.

Well, except for the occasional anomaly.