Democrat Asks: Why Are Most Democrats Congenital Open Border Advocates?

[See also:



Why I Am A Democrat (And An Immigration Reformer),
by Donald A. Collins]

As a

Democrat, I am stunned, after
years of argument, to find so many in my party
simply can`t or won`t face
the
reality of America`s immigration disaster. They
continue to mouth the mindless platitudes—"We
are all immigrants" or
"They do jobs
Americans won`t do" or
"They need to
come here to escape the poverty of

their own countries".

What are their motivations?

Seeking

social companionship and comfort is a basic driver
of human behavior. Thus, in our associations, we tend to
consort with people whose

views we agree with. When an issue as complex and
troubling as immigration reform arises, slowly, then
ominously, then viciously politically, it becomes a
matter of

real courage to analyze in a rational manner what to
believe—particularly if it involves clashing with the

herd mentality of your group.

It seems to me this condition
afflicts many Americans—but very often people who are
liberal Democrats.

Bundling issues into herds of
belief, and hence believers, is a very human trait. Take
the example of most English professors in the US and the
UK. They have

dismissed the question of
who really wrote the works of Shakespeare with
arguments like "it doesn`t matter" or by strained references about the
Bard
of Avon`s astounding perspicacity in imagining Italy
or the inner working of a Royal court when he never got
even close to either. They literally can`t leave the
herd to think independently.

In our present situation, where for
45 years Americans have watched the growth of our
population

from about 200 million to 320 million, there have
been many who simply can`t see the bad effects of such
unneeded growth—even some still arguing that endless
growth is good.

Just seems to me, alas, that most
of these Open Border voices are Democrats. Of course,
many Democrats, I am sure,
join me in advocating real immigration reform. But
my

party`s leaders in Congress and the

White House continue to try to force amnesty down
our throats, most recently during the

lame duck session of Congress this past year.
Incredible, even after popular revolt has defeated
amnesty attempts over and over, and after the disastrous
1986
amnesty for 3 million illegal aliens resulted in
over 12 million illegal aliens here now, uncounted and
unsought except when they
murder someone or commit

serious crimes.

Of course this is not solely
idealism and
the milk of human kindness. The push comes from

business campaign financing money, plus lobbying
from religious and

ethnic blocs. Antipathy to any exclusion of
immigrants among
many in
the Jewish community arises from history, when Jews
fleeing Nazism
could
not all get to America—their descendants recalling
the

Jewish refugee ship which was
turned away by
Roosevelt.

There are many examples of issue
bundling/herd voting. If you are OK on

family planning and support a

woman`s right to choose abortion, you are likely
concerned about global warming and have memberships in
The Nature Conservancy and The Wilderness Society. Your
social circle generally agrees with you. And that very
palpable peer pressure makes you hesitant to voice your
real views over the immigration issue, lest people in
your circle feel you are a racist,

nativist, or xenophobe.

Could it be that people who achieve
great political power comes a deep-seated sense of
guilt, which drives them to recoil from rational
discussion of the growing numbers that are changing
America for the worse forever?

Could it also be that those who
have great affluence share that guilt, and atone by
embracing Open Borders for those they see as poor and
needy? After all, what does it cost someone like that,
in terms of personal deprivation?

Could it be that those in charge of
some of our great charitable foundations have this same
sense of guilt—that they wish to change things, again
with no personal consequences, by opening our doors to
all who wish to come here?

That guilt, and the omnipresent
fear of “racism”, are now being exploited to the maximum by thugs like the
Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The $PLC is

funded by large money, some of which can`t be
traced, but a large chunk is known to be coming from
such sources as the

Carnegie Corporation of NY. Some of
Carnegie`s grant recipients have made
extensive charges of racism against reputable NGOs
and individuals, rather than debate the issue.

Any reasoned arguments put forth
from reputable advocates such as the

Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)
and others

including VDARE.com attracts from these

Ad Hominem
mavens the label of racist.

Since liberal views on well known
social issues are frequently populated with Democrats,
their unwillingness to address the real immigration
reform issue politically has proved utterly and happily
compliant with the goals of business and other self
interested allies.

Important Open Borders advocates
include political leaders such as Senators
Chuck Schumer (D-NY) or

Harry Reid (D-NV) or former House Speaker, Nancy
Pelosi (D-CA), the latter in a state with huge Hispanic
numbers, both legal and illegal. Californian US Senators
Dianne Feinstein and

Barbara Boxer, both Jewish, Democrat feminists and
faced with the same demography as Pelosi, can`t seem to
wait for their next chance to vote for an amnesty,
despite huge numbers of Americans out of work or
underemployed in their own state. They all apparently
agree that bringing in over 1 million legal workers on
various types of work visas is just the right thing to
do.

So, while for decades, the majority
of American citizens (now likely well north of 65%) have
been telling their government whenever they are polled
that they want fewer immigrants, the numbers have kept
rising. When I first arrived in California in the
mid-1970s, the population was under 20 million. It`s now
nearing 40. It used to cost $1.25 to take the Airporter
bus from SFO to downtown SF, now like the population
that has exploded by a multiple. But the

quality of life is not better.

So since 1965, the numbers of
illegal aliens and legal aliens have exploded. These
newcomers have more children than American citizens who
have been here longer. Thus, the likelihood of their
growing political power looms—making the future American
scenario one with an increasingly less educated
population. To what advantage, in an age when there is a
growing need for more educated folks?

This last paragraph likely will
cause the hate-mongers to label me a
“racist”.

Ad hominem is
their game. But let me suggest that unless we stop
looking at
“anti-racism” as the benchmark for righteousness, we
are heading in the
same dismal
direction as the countries of origin from whence
many of these newcomers came.

What is the lure of so called
multiculturalism? It has become like a religion for many
Democrats. In the latest

hearings on E verify, long-time Congressman,

John Conyers (D-MI), an

African American, talked about
"these are jobs
Americans won`t do"—when Detroit is languishing in a
long-term downturn. Conyers grew up in Detroit and was

present for the

famous Civil Rights march in Selma, Alabama on
October 7, 1963 for the voter registration drive known
at Freedom Day. Since May 2005, he`s been a

contributing blogger at Huffington Post and his own
blog. Apparently for this man to espouse limits on any
minority group apparently would be like the Pope leaving
Christianity. Again, a mindlessly bundling of liberal
issues!

On the other side of fanaticism, we
have some Republicans arguing for cutting off family
planning funding, both here and overseas. As a February
17, 2011

Population Connection email noted:

"We told you on Monday that the Republican majority in the House was
poised to pass major restrictions on international
family planning—including a cut of more than $200
million from current levels…The far right must not be
allowed use the rhetoric of fiscal discipline to pass
their reactionary, irresponsible ideology.”

Hey, I
vigorously agree with that PC statement. But I can`t
help notice that I am as inflexible about my position on
reproductive rights for women as many true believers
about Open Borders.

With me, I am certain it is not
deep seated guilt, since I can`t get pregnant and have
long experienced the joy of fatherhood. Responsible
choice is a gift, obscene ignoring of the rights of
other fellow citizens is not.

We advocates of real immigration
reform must not fail now to get more

Democrats and Independents and American citizens to
"unbundle"
their issue packages, to really think about whether they
want their

children and grandchildren to have to fit another
100 million immigrants into an already overcrowded,
overtaxed, over stressed country. Unless we act now,
that number is surely going to be added to our present
population of 320 million by the middle of this century
this century.

Think of the impact on our

environment, tax supported services, and our way of
life!! Will

our Republic survive? Just because some of our
elites got feeling guilty?

So continue to call me a
“racist”,
despite my being a Democrat, $PLC! But I do believe
many more in my party and of every political persuasion
are coming to realize the urgent necessity of securing
our borders.

Donald A. Collins [email
him], is a freelance writer living in Washington DC and a former long time member of the board of FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform. His views are his own.