Immigration Revisited

But in any case this population change is simply irreversible, a historical development that demands new ways of thinking. It is bringing some strains, especially in the Southwest, where many immigrants speak of reconquista and want to throw their weight around, and Mexico’s arrogant president, Vicente Fox, seems to delight in making trouble.

It never seems to occur to him that his own chronically irresponsible government is what drives so many of his countrymen north. Checked the peso lately? Inflation, which impoverishes whole populations, isn’t caused by locusts. Now this odious demagogue professes to speak as the champion of the people he has oppressed. They are caught between two lawless bureaucratic behemoths, alias "democracies."

In a few years this is bound to bring our welfare state, already overloaded, to a crisis. To me, this is the most disturbing prospect we face.

But I find it hard to see how any Christian can get indignant about poor men who leave home to take tough, low-paying jobs in order to feed their families. I can’t imagine Jesus standing on the border to turn them back. As for angry talk of an "invasion," it’ s a pretty peaceful one, and the complaint comes oddly from Americans who believe their own country has the right to invade countries around the world, and not necessarily in a pacific manner.