MEXIFORNIA

Victor Davis Hanson's book MEXIFORNIA A State of Becoming;

Massive illegal immigration from Mexico into California," Victor Davis Hanson writes, "coupled with a loss of confidence in the old melting pot model of transforming newcomers into Americans, is changing the very nature of state. Yet we Californians have been inadequate in meeting this challenge, both failing to control our borders with Mexico and to integrate the new alien population into our mainstream."

Noted for his military histories and especially his social commentary of post-9/11 American life, Hanson is a fifth-generation Californian who teaches college classics courses and runs a family farm. Mexifornia is part history, part political analysis, and part memoir. It is an intensely personal book about what has changed in the California over the last quarter century, and how the real losers in the chaos caused by hemorrhaging borders are the Mexican immigrants themselves.

A large part of the problem, Hanson believes, comes from the opportunistic coalition that stymies immigration reform and, even worse, stifles an honest discussion of the growing problem. Corporations, contractors, and agribusiness demand cheap wage labor from Mexico, whatever the social consequences. Meanwhile, academics, journalists, government bureaucrats, and La Raza advocates envision illegal aliens as a vast new political constituency for those committed to the notion that victimhood, not citizenship, is the key to advancement.

Mexifornia is an indictment of the policies that got California into its present mess. But this beautifully written book also reflects Hanson's strong belief that our traditions of assimilation, integration, and intermarriage may yet remedy a problem that the politicians and ideologues have allowed to get out of hand. hat tip Jeremiah

Over at NRO,The San Diego Reconquista Gathering here, photos, hat tip LGF

WELFARE TO KIDS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS 276 MILLION  (and that is just LA County alone) hat tip Robert D

Some little discussed tidbits

These first 10 from the Los Angeles Times.

1. 40% of all workers in L.A. County (L.A. County has 10 million people) are working for cash and not paying taxes. This was because they are predominantly illegal immigrants, working without a green card. 2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.

3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.

4. Over 2/3's of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers. 5. Nearly 25% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.

6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.

7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.

8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.

9. 21 radio stations in L.A. are Spanish speaking.

10. In L.A.County 5.1 million people speak English. 3.9 million speak Spanish (10.2 million people in L.A.County).

Above ten  from the Los Angeles Times Other factoids: Center for Immigration Studies

Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops but 29% are on welfare.

Over 70% of the United States annual population growth (and over 90% of California, Florida, and New York) results from immigration.

The cost of illegal immigration to the American taxpayer in 1997 was a NET (after subtracting taxes immigrants pay) $70 BILLION a year [Professor Donald Huddle, Rice University].

The lifetime fiscal impact (taxes paid minus services used) for the average adult Mexican immigrant is a NEGATIVE

29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens. hat tip Robert D.

My take?

The borders are an immigration issue, not a terrorist issue. Sorry, I am not buying that bullshit. Islamic terrorists are here legally, are home grown, are on visas, student programs yada yada yada. Islamic terror is what lurks in the hearts of evil men.

Me? I think we ought to open up immigration - Why not everybody? Mexico being rewarded for proximity is an enormous mistake. Part of the reason New York didn't have those insane riots is because our immigration is so very mixed.

Both legal and illegal immigrants have come here primarily to work and make a better life for themselves and their families. But a country requires more than workers. It requires people who are citizens not only in name but in commitment. That is my problem with immigration, that and enforcement. It's not enough to enact legislation, we have to enforce it - which is why Reagan's "guest worker" program was such a failure.

UPDATE: Excellent take on the Reconquistas here, Strong As An Ox And Nearly As Smart

Simplistic, yes, but they have a role model, the Arabs in Israel and Muslims in Europe. Especially in Europe, the Muslim conquest via higher birthrates will eventually succeed, primarily because Muslims are increasingly separating themselves from the modern lifestyles of their hosts. By their already great numbers and cultural isolation, they have succeeded in instituting de facto Muslim law or Sharia in France, and to a lesser extent in Germany, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, and Scandinavian countries.

European countries have helped the Muslim conquest, especially through their generous socialist welfare programs. In addition, Europeans do have very low birthrates, which Muslims are quick to point out make their victory just a matter of time. Personally, I think their low birthrates are a reflection of their high taxes and high costs of living, combined with high rates of unemployment – in other words, the Europeans have succeeded in creating a depressing socialist environment that discourages the creation and growth of both strong economies and families with children.

The Reconquistadores are faced with totally different circumstances in the United States.

Comments

[Stephen M. St. Onge]

        Actually, Mexifornia isn't new, it's been out for almost three years.  Hanson was prescient in zeroing in on this topic.

        I expect that like everything else Hanson has written that I've read, it's very much worth reading.

[searcher]

I was just thinking the same thing--I read this book years ago. Hanson writes from a very personal perspective. He exposes the social and economic impact of unchecked immigration in the central California valley where his family farm is located--which includes a "separatist" sentiment from the Mexican community--but balances it with stories of positive experiences, and intergration into American society by intermarriage. I believe I heard him on a George Putnam show--now THAT is the guy that was truly on the forefront of the illegal immigration battle.