What’s the Big Deal About Illegal Immigration?
April 28th, 2010
I’ll admit it; I used to be one of those conservatives who never thought immigration was a big deal. That’s partly because of my libertarian background. Libertarians, while more tolerant of social conservatism than progressives, nevertheless have no philosophical framework for understanding the classical conservative reverence for things such as cultural capital and transcendent morality. Thus, my social conservatism developed far more slowly than my lifelong disgust towards the left’s corny morality tales and over the top emotionalism, an aversion most libertarians share. Another reason for this is that the two most often cited reasons for opposing illegal immigration, high crime and a stressed economy, don’t resonate with me as much as they probably should.
Start with the argument that illegal immigration is bad for the economy. Illegal immigration is estimated to cost the state of New York (which is only thousands of miles from Mexico) between 4.5 and 5.1 billion dollars a year. This limits the amount of money educators have to spend on competitive teachers and computers, among other things. This is a serious charge, but it’s also a drop in the bucket compared to what this century’s first two American Presidents have spent in the name of progress.
Some conservatives go as far to equate the practice of exploiting illegal residents for cheap labor with slavery (It doesn’t help that both slave-owners and supporters of illegal immigration have argued that their preferred employment practices are integral to the economy). But aside from its illegality, the prospect of human beings being paid less than minimum wage doesn’t bother me if all parties agree to it in good faith.
Then there’s illegal immigration’s contribution to crime. Imported gangs such as MS-13 intimidate American citizens not only along the border, but in faraway lands such as Omaha and New Jersey. The ongoing inner-city drug problem progressive activists cynically (and enthusiastically) blame on racism is largely fueled by illegal aliens smuggling drugs into the country. A seemingly endless number of brutal crimes would almost certainly not have occurred if the United States enforced its immigration laws. Even taking into account the plain fact that most illegal immigrants are clearly not violent thugs, the growing population of illegal aliens who happen to be criminals has made some of America’s biggest cities much more dangerous than they already were.
While it would be irresponsible to ignore the economic and criminal consequences of illegal immigration, neither extends a shadow over America as long as the one cast by its cultural impact. My stance on immigration is shamelessly derivative of Samuel Huntington’s: The most important question about immigration isn’t whether or not foreigners are importing themselves to America, but whether or not they’re assimilating.
As much as I tend to stress otherwise, liberals and conservatives, by virtue of their American heritage, have more in common than their predictably hyperbolic “outrage” suggests. The vast majority of all Americans place ideals such as free speech, freedom from political coercion, and rule of law on a pedestal. In general, Americans wholeheartedly respect their libertarian constitution, which unites them despite their doctrinal pissing matches. While conservatives are generally more exuberant in their nationalism, liberals also readily proclaim that they love America and support the troops.
For the most part, this cultural heritage has held America together despite crises such as the Great Depression, the 60’s Revolution, and 9/11. It’s telling that both Democrats and Republicans quote George Orwell’s 1984, a narrative obsessed with the dangers of an overbearing state, as if it were the Bible. Undermining the Constitution is an offense on both sides of the aisle, even as it’s vulnerable to eccentric interpretation. As long as the American people care to uphold our deepest traditions, American politicians have no choice but to submit to our most valuable ideals. Even President Barack Obama has said “I am a strong believer in capitalism,” and expresses at least token consideration for gun rights.
Yet we forget that while our nation’s constitutional principles are self-evidently wonderful to us, the rest of the world doesn’t necessarily see it that way. Despite the fact that the United States has granted its citizens unmatched economic prosperity (past-tense at the moment), the freest political culture (ask Canadians about free speech), and status which was the envy of the globe throughout the majority of the 20th century, only twenty of the world’s nations are federal republics like America, and many, such as Venezuela, have little regard for liberty. Because America is a federal republic, where the duty of governance is split between the national government and local governments, our national government is capable of deferring to local traditions. Thus, cultures as diverse as San Francisco’s and Texas’s can both legitimately claim to be authentically American. In addition, because our constitution emphasizes negative rights, the stuff the government’s not allowed to do, these communities can co-exist without worrying that one will impose its sensibilities on the other through law (although this is becoming more difficult as the nation becomes more interconnected—As I am writing this, protestors in Los Angeles are marching against a law restricted to Arizona). It’s difficult to argue against a free society which allows for this much cultural diversity while still maintaining unity.
Quite a peachy scenario, don’t you think? Now imagine that literally millions of people with no intimate connection to American culture flooded some of our largest communities, effectively re-shaping large segments of the United States in a starkly different image. That’s what happens with Illegal immigration, which waters down American culture through the massive influx of a population ignorant of it. Not because American traditions cannot coexist with Latino, Hispanic, or any other peaceful heritage, but because American culture cannot sustain itself without deliberate assimilation of incoming residents.
Even though illegal immigrants presumably come to America of their own volition, conservatives are handicapped when it comes to relating to unassimilated immigrants because unassimilated immigrants have little incentive to change their distant relationship to the United States. Beyond what it takes to smuggle one’s self into the country and find work, anyone can live here without coming to appreciate this country at all. See: Sean Penn. There are entire communities along the border where even comprehension of English, the primary language used to communicate our values, isn’t required to fit in. This is why legal immigration is so important. It encourages assimilation while illegal immigration circumvents it.
Without assimilation, the civil liberties which allow the blue and red states to coexist would slowly dissolve, because the Constitution is only a piece of paper, and needs popular support in order to have any authority. Without assimilation, the rights we take for granted, such as freedom of expression, will come under attack by those who pledge loyalty to ideals contrary to American tradition. Pro-illegal immigration groups have long claimed that the immigration debate is fueling a rise in hate crimes. If so, then the pragmatic solution would be to censor colorful opponents of illegal immigration, right?
It’s not as if illegal aliens pour over our borders with the intention of undermining this country’s well-being, but national identity isn’t something one absorbs via osmosis. If that was the case, surveys demonstrating that our schoolchildren don’t know when the Civil War occurred wouldn’t pop up every few years. Cultures are fragile. For a culture to survive, the majority of the people within them must be truly educated about it. Insisting that immigrants enter our country legally isn’t to condemn them, but an attempt to protect the way of life immigrants are seeking when they come to America.
It isn’t unreasonable to ask immigrants to assimilate. Assimilation doesn’t mean “denying” one’s heritage anymore than me learning Spanish would be an affront to my patriotism. No one who immigrates to America is being asked to abandon his family’s values and switch to a diet exclusively based on cows and potatoes. All assimilation means is to recognize America’s cultural heritage and pledge to respect, and not undermine, America’s best traditions. This unspoken contract is what allows atheists to live besides Catholics, libertarians to break bread with feminists, and me to get along with most of my friends.
The path to citizenship, as much of a painful, bureaucratic process it is, at least demands that prospective citizens pass a simple test about American history and government to be granted their citizenship. It’s no accident that the citizenship process requires applicants to take an oath of allegiance to the United States, which includes supporting and defending the Constitution. For Christ’s sake, we hold our legal immigrants to higher standards than we hold ourselves!
America’s unique political traditions are not instinctual; if they were, conservatives wouldn’t have to work so hard to defend them. Tolerance for freedom, especially if it doesn’t obviously contribute to the public good, is not a natural phenomenon. Primitive societies are notoriously intolerant and bound to communitarian principles. When it comes to wealth, the human economic impulse tends towards envy and class warfare; the opposite of constructive capitalism. Truly freedom loving people are raised, not born. If that wasn’t the case, then opening our borders to unmitigated migration wouldn’t have such a profound effect on our political culture.
America isn’t special because it reflects humanity’s base desires, including ethnic chauvinism. America isn’t special because of our commitment to civil rights, which is absolutely commendable, but not unique in the western world. America is special because it preserves liberty from the government as well as the fickle mob it often represents. As the percentage of Americas who understand this shrinks, the likelihood that America will lose this unique feature increases. I suspect more supporters of illegal immigration know this than will admit it.