Immigration and global warming
I've just taken two phone calls regarding the lead story in today's Sun involving a study that essentially blames immigrants for contributing to global warming. The calls - one from a reader, one from a well-known political leader - couldn't have been more different.
I'm not going to identify either caller - these were private conversations with the editor and not interviews - but their reaction underscores how highly polarized the immigration debate is.
The reader was upset that the story, in his mind, was sympathetic to "illegal aliens," and he's tired of seeing that in our newspaper. "Just report the facts," he told me.
The public official chalked up the report to demagoguery and wondered what compelled us to even print it. Interestingly, this is a high-ranking Republican whose party is often aligned - rightly or wrongly, fairly or not - with the Center for Immigration Studies, which conducted the study.
It does raise an interesting point about how a newspaper handles - or should handle - a story that, in the paper's best judgment, leads to an unfair, offensive or outrageous conclusion. In this case, the study notes that poor immigrants who move to this country in search of a better life consume more fuel and energy, and produce more carbon dioxide emissions. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where this is heading, especially when you factor in the Center of Immigration Studies' far-right approach to the subject matter.
While not dismissing the study out of hand, the reporter approaches it with a certain measure of skepticism. The reader-caller picked up on that, and didn't like it. The public official picked up on it too, but felt it would be ignored by the masses and that the center's "destructive" message is just what the demagogues ordered. His answer - don't print the story.
Comments
Immigration is a fascinating issue with long tentacles.
Many people fail to understand that there is a significant number of individuals on the left side of the political spectrum who believe that a massive influx of illegal aliens, particularly from Latin American countries, is detrimental to their goals of limiting global warming and population growth.
Many immigrants from this region, due to religious beliefs, do not practice safe sex and thus have a high birth rate.
By essentially importing future "American consumerists" (if you will), they argue that it is ultimately bad for the envrionment, etc.
I can cite another example of the impact of illegal immigration that few people consider. Take all of the new schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Many, if not most, of those schools are being built in a highly urbanized area resulting in the need to use eminent domain to secure property to educate these students who should not even be here.
Now, using eminent domain to build a school is a proper use. However, how does one quantify the impact of government taking private property to build schools that are primarily being built to educate illegal aliens or the children of illegal aliens?
Posted by: Joseph Turner | August 19, 2008 9:21 AM
When is Breaking the Law OK in AMERICA?
In many cases and in many places, the illegal immigration issue is a true Catch 22 situation in every respect. On top of that are the emotional and moral issues that are capitalized by the media who, for whatever reason fail to accurately report the basic bottom line. Illegal is illegal is illegal, regardless if you are 6 months or 80 years old, you are here because you broke our laws! And doing so, the illegal alien feels he should be rewarded by receiving aid and benefits which he has not contributed towards nor should he receive. By allowing receipt of this social assistance, another list of assumed benefits are deemed “OK”. The picture painted in the media is the small child looking raged and dirty from a day’s play wondering where he/she will sleep or eat next. The young mother who is about to have another child while two or so young ones hang on her legs look at the camera in despair. Anchor babies as they are known, are not they way to becoming legal.
In many cases, the worst conditions they are living in here are a full notch above the way they were living in their homeland. Living in garages with no running water, no toilets, no sanitary areas to prepare their food and overcrowding is routine. They are out of the public mainstream and in many cases go unnoticed. However, you see a glimpse of the way they live when they try to register and attend our FREE schools or they need medical assistance over crowding the emergency rooms for the needed services for which they can not pay.
Who is to blame for this ever worsening situation? How do we, the most giving nation in the world stop this hemorrhaging at our boarders? If by some stroke of luck we come to our senesces and it is stopped, what do we do with the millions that are still here illegally? If we stay the current course, it is only a matter of time the USA will become a very large poor nation just like the place they escaped from. Unknowingly they will pull us down because they can only see today, and now and they are better off.
For the most part, they refuse to assimilate into our culture. They will not give up their native language nor learn English, so necessary to get ahead. They are unfamiliar with the many rules and laws we have that if obeyed will benefit the current (our) civilization.
This can be witnessed by going to the elementary schools in the poorer sections of Southern California and watch. Young mothers bring and fetch their young children who are supposed to be attending. Instead of forcing English on these younger children in the classrooms, we accommodate them by requiring teachers and staff to become bi-lingual. Another system failure that is compounding the problem. These same mothers arrive in cars and trucks that they are so proud of, worked with their husbands to purchase and they can not drive them safely. There is no doubt they have not been formally trained or understand the rules of the road. Just watch them try to drive. Most are breaking yet another law by not having a driver’s license or insurance. They pile 5 to 6 small kids into the vehicles with no child restraint being used, yet another broken law. Yes this is an assumption not proven until something sad happens, an accident with injuries.
And so it goes, one broken law deserves another and another and another. When or how does it stop or… does it? These are good people. They only want for a better life. They are willing to work and work hard but they are illegal and it is NOT “OK”. We have our laws for a purpose and that purpose is not to break them. If they break one and it is OK, how about two? Maybe three, after all who will know? If the third one is an auto accident, someone is killed or seriously hurt, they were here illegally, driving with no license is it murder? They know it is wrong when they do it. The only difference is in their homeland, the probability of getting caught is slim to none. Here, it is only a matter of time. Just like taking a gun and shooting someone, the result is the same. Is it OK? How do we stop it, when do we stop it?
Posted by: Anonymous | August 19, 2008 3:36 PM