A Response to the Call for “Comprehensive” Immigration Reform

Here is the beginning of a response from John Fonte of the Hudson Institute to a recent commentary posted on this blog by Tamar Jacoby but more of a challenge to the comprehensive approach to immigration reform previously endorsed by the U.S. Senate:

You are everywhere these days promoting the McCain-Kennedy “slow motion” amnesty plan for illegal immigrants. I commend your energy and spirited advocacy, while strongly disagreeing with your recommendations and the “tempered” multicultural ideology behind them. My principal objection is that you over-emphasize economics and deal only superficially with America’s twin national interests in border security and patriotic assimilation. Further, the economic points that you raise are themselves open to question. You and I agree that the United States has been more successful in assimilating immigrants than any other country in the history of the world. The reason for that success, however, is that from George Washington to Theodore Roosevelt, Americans have insisted upon the “Americanization” or patriotic assimilation of immigrants. Today, America’s elites no longer promote serious assimilation. Instead, our de-facto policy is mass, low-skilled immigration combined with weak border security and anti-assimilation practices (ethnic group preferences for newcomers, bilingualism, multiculturalism and tolerance of dual citizenship). Your policy recommendations—reflected both in McCain-Kennedy style legislation and your book, Reinventing the Melting Pot—do not challenge these anti-assimilation practices.

Click here for more.  Although I read the piece, I was having a hard time this morning accessing the website, which may be down for now.

KJ