Immigration

"Normally when I walk by this building there are a bunch of people that are totally inebriated hanging out the window. I know that's a stereotype about the Irish, but nevertheless we Jews around the corner think this," New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg said during a speech at the American Irish Historical Society.

A Quinnipiac University poll found 52 percent of voters had heard about it and were not sure if they took offense. Forty-five percent said Irish Americans should “laugh it off.”

The Irish should brush it off, especially if they insist on naming bars all over the Northeast with names like “Quigley.” Time was, everyone drank, especially the northern Europeans — English, Irish and Russians — but the Irish seemed to do so with greater personal pride, as if it were something we were particularly good at.

In Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance — And Why They Fall, by Amy Chua — that Tiger Mom in an age of penguins — I was struck that in the introduction, she referred to her husband as a “Jewish American.” I was an “Irish-American” in the days of Geraldine (“It’s my turn!”) Ferraro, an “Italian-American” who was Walter Mondale’s running mate in 1984. There were Afro-Americans and WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) and Newyoricans (playwright Miguel Pinero and Justice Sonia Sotomayor), but Jews were just Jews. I’d only heard the expression “Jewish American” once before, years back when a congresswoman awkwardly referred to some of her constituents as “Jewish Americans.” Commentator David Brooks got a laugh out of it, saying, “I used to be a Jew. Now I’m a ‘Jewish American.’ ”

I’m sure some of my readers have heard this story, but it is so compelling, I thought I would tell it again. Late last year, a 101-year-old woman by the name of Eulalia Garcia-Maturey celebrated a milestone. No, it wasn’t her birthday, though many would eagerly congratulate her on such a feat. Eulalia was marking the century-old anniversary of her crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.

In 1909, the months-old Garcia-Maturey and her mother crossed the border into Brownsville, Texas, looking for a better life. Decades later, in 1941, she received a “Certificate of Lawful Entry” card, which was then part of the World War II alien registration laws. Eulalia kept that card through the years, which helped to establish her citizenship in October 2010.

Saturday's historic vote on “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was a big day for President Obama and the base of the Democratic Party — disappointed by the tax-cut package signed into law Friday, but triumphant over the long-sought repeal on the ban on gays serving openly in the military.
 
Eight Republicans crossed the aisle to support a repeal of the DADT policy the Pentagon had asked the Congress to undo. While it nearly died many times, and ultimately could not be passed by attaching it to the "must-pass" defense authorization bill, a clean up-or-down vote brought out more support than even proponents knew they had.

The proponents of the DREAM Act have provided a case study on how to blow up a bipartisan alliance and make certain that legislative goals are not met.

Originally a bipartisan bill, the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act would give conditional green cards to undocumented immigrants if they graduate from high school and pursue a college education or military service. After a 10-year waiting period, they could obtain permanent residency if they met all the requirements, and they could eventually apply for citizenship.

This might seem like a simplistic truism, but I think it is worth noting that there are more Asians in the world than any other group of people.

The number of Asians living in Asia is rapidly approaching 4 billion. There are 1.3 billion Chinese and almost as many Indians.

But the Asians are not staying in Asia. They are emigrating in search of a better life for themselves and their families, and many of them are ending up in America.

The Nicky Diaz story has revealed more about the Obama administration’s immigration policy than the president himself. We the people no longer need to assume the administration policies that protect America from continuously being invaded by illegal immigrants. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano recently exposed the illegal immigration platform of the current administration on “The O’Reilly Factor.”

If you aren’t familiar with the Nicky Diaz story, she has become a high-profile, controversial figure in illegal immigration politics. She was the former housekeeper of Meg Whitman, Republican gubernatorial candidate, from 2000-2009. Diaz used a fake Social Security number to get the job, and when Mrs. Whitman became aware of her status she immediately fired her. 

Who’s the happiest woman in the world today? Meg Whitman!

Why? Because she’s no longer the only dumbass celebrity to rail against undocumented workers and the employers who hire them — only to be exposed as having undocumented workers on her own payroll. Now Whitman has company: Lou Dobbs!

Yes, Lou Dobbs. Who made a big fat living on CNN denouncing illegal immigrants as the scum of the earth. And demanded that employers who hire them be charged with a felony.

Are the Mexican drug cartels more effective at stopping illegal immigration than our own Border Patrol? Immigrants seeking to illegally enter the U.S. from Central America are faced with a new and growing threat, cartels. The question is: What does this say about the cartels?

In August, an Ecuadorian immigrant venturing to the U.S. was detained by the Zetas — a notorious Mexican drug cartel — with a group of 72 other immigrants containing both men and women. Due to their unwillingness to work for the cartel, all were shot dead while the one escaped.