The latest on Latin American affairs, U.S.-Latin American ties, U.S. Hispanics and immigration
posted by Andres Oppenheimer at 12:12 PM
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Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald columnist Andres Oppenheimer, author of five best-sellers on Latin American affairs and whose syndicated column appears in 55 major U.S. and Latin American newspapers, comments on the latest events in Latin America and U.S.- Latin American affairs. He is a member of The Miami Herald team that won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize. He also won the 1999 Maria Moors Cabot Award, the 2001 King of Spain prize, and the 2005 Emmy Suncoast award. He is the author of Castro's Final Hour; Bordering on Chaos, on Mexico's crisis; Cronicas de heroes y bandidos and Ojos vendados, and most recently of "Cuentos Chinos" (Plaza & Janes, Mexico.) A new Oppenheimer Report appears every Sunday and Thursday.
Email Andres at aoppenheimer@herald.com
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35 Comments:
Bush has to put a stop to Chertoff's nonsense, if he condones it now, then the momentum will accelerate in favor of the demagogues. Bush must lay down the line in the sand for his administration that there is no excuse of bashing and bad-mouthing undocumented immigrants.
McCarthyism is growing and it will take leadershi pto shut it down... again.
Dear Mr. Oppenheimer,
I read your article and must say that you brought some very good points. Unfortunately you distort the real problem by co-mingling your point of view with the realities we face.
The realities we face immediately are ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE POURING INTO OUR COUNTRY.
The only way to stop this flow and/or slow it down is to build a fence. It is sad but it is the only way to affect the illegals that now flood into our country.
Don't get me wrong I agree that a lot of your points are valid. Where you are wrong is you give a one paragraph "OF COURSE SOLUTION" Give greater economic integration with Mexico and Latin America.
This would have been a good point but affter spending many sentences bashing anything Republican that is all you came up with.
Mr. Oppenheimer we need a wall now.
There is no on the air hysteria, the problem is here and now.
By stating that "Not one single 9/11 terrorist entered through the Mexican border as a defence for no fence is ridiculous. How about the thousands and thousands of tatooed lowlife drug smuggling, murdering gang members that ilegally cross into our country every day. Is your solution going to stop them.
Come on, get real, get a real taste of what an open border looks like. Move into East LA and take your kids for a walk in the park and see if you will still sit there and espouse your Left-wing non-sense.
What your article should have said is put up a wall now, get rid of all criminal illegal aliens immediately, clean up the environment tires, bottles, cans, etc. Unfortunately the Pronghorn whatever it is, Black bear and wild cats are going to have to be either Mexican or American in the future.
Unfotunately your Left-Wing attack of a part of a statement by Chertoff diminishes any of the good ideas you wrote about.
$34 Billion is the fastest best spent money we will ever be taxed for.
Bob
Retired Police Detective
Coral Gables
Mr. OPPENHEIMER
You miss the point. It is not a matter of who “damages” the environment more. The core debate is the US needs to have control of its borders. We currently have very little to no control and the current laws at enforcement are largely being ignored.
The talk radio and cable news shows are only asking that we enforce our laws and borders. Yes, there are callers and viewers that are racists that hate groups of people, but they exist everywhere (even some of your readers) and their view of hatred is not what is being demanded. Whet is being demanded is solutions that work. And despite you claiming the fence won’t work and is a waste of funds, it does work. It worked in parts of San Diego where it is installed. It works where ever it is placed. Yes it doesn’t eliminate all illegal crossings, but it sure cuts it down a huge amount.
And as for your claims that 9-11 terrorist did not come from the border. So what! They COULD have if they wanted to IS the point. And they could do so in the future if the system is not fixed. Why do we have to wait until terrorist do decide to enter through the border to take action? Why not see the weakness now, and fix it before the terrorist exploit it? You know it is a big possibility terrorist could enter here, but you are putting your personal politics ahead of your common since when you say things like “the 9-11 terrorist did not enter from the border”.
And speaking of plans that don’t work. Instead of saying the fence won’t work (despite it not yet being used at full force to back up of that claim), lets look at your idea on helping the Mexican government with our tax dollars as the solution. After years of pouring money into the Mexican economy and creating things like NAFTA to “help” Mexico, help themselves, where are the results? These ideas HAVE proven to be failures. Yes, a better Mexico economy would also help the US, but we have tried and spent money and at some point the Mexican people have to take a stand and help themselves. And leaving their homeland in droves for the US will leave very few behind to demand reform.
So the border fence is not “bigoted” and is surly not a “failure”. The biggest fear that you have in the fence is that it will actually work and cut down illegal crossings significantly. And yes, it is understood that it won’t cut the crossings to 0%, but that doesn’t mean it’s a failure if it cuts illegal crossings by 70-90%.
And the debate on who damages the environment more is just that, a debate and takes focus away from our rights and laws to guard our borders from not only Mexico, but from any country. Just as you can point out cases of Americans dumping tires in Mexico (which you bring up only to pull sympathy of the reader toward Mexico and create the US as the “villain”) but there are also many examples where Mexico is hurting our side of the border as well that you neglected to cite. That’s why that is a separate topic and is debatable.
Ruxpen
Miami, FL
from: Paul Thørsen
PThorsen240@aol.com
åndêrš, why don't you speak to us in Layman's terms? Tell us exactly what you people need in your countries to be happy and to keep from forcing your way into the USA? How many TVs do you need to be happy? 10? How many cars? 12?
How many speedboats? How many mink coats? How many houses do you people need to bew happy and content in your own countries?
from: Paul Thørsen
PThorsen240@aol.com
åndêrš, Mr Chertoff should just speak the truth and quit coming up with ruses such as "degrading the environment". Just say the USA has no place for a people who will not speak English and who try to force their language and culture on us. Just tell the truth and say the USA accepts people who want to join USA society but we have no place for a people who want to steal the USA.
from: Paul Thørsen
PThorsen240@aol.com
Hey åndêrš, does the USA also have to bring Africa and the Middle East to prosperity? Oceania too? Mongolia too? Nepal? Madagascar?
I found your thoughts to be amusing. I don't think poor Seattleites are forcing their way onto Bill Gates' property because of a difference in incomes.
Good fences make good neighbors.
I have great neighbors. We help each other, we socialize and we stay alert for strangers to the neighborhood. Yet, we all have private fences and gates and we respect each others privacy and property.
Mexico has not been a good neighbor to the USA. They let their people unto our yards and ignore our pleas to control them. Instead of providing for their people, they encourage them to come into our property in order to send money back home.
Mexico is not going to change and become not only a good neighbor to us, but a good provider for all its people, until we unilaterally take control our border. Something Mexico does quite well with their own border!
Those who say that the answer is to legalize now those already here are ignoring the root cause of the problem. Under their "strategy" we will have to give 10M illegals amnesty every 10 years - forever.
Secure our borders - build a fence and whatever else it takes, penalize employers who hire illegals, and clear our jails of illegals.
I'm sure that when the American people are convinced their government has our borders under control, I am sure we will all agree to resolve the status of those that remain. They would have to pay fines, pay ALL back taxes, and go to the end of the citizenship line.
The USA needs immigrants. We want immigrants and lots of them. We need PhD's and cherry pickers - but we want to be in control.
Understatement of the Year:
"For the record, I'm not for unregulated immigration, nor do I think we should condone littering along the border."
from: Paul Thørsen
PThorsen240@aol.com
Hey anonymous, you want to give amnesty to Hispanic illegals once we secure our borders? Nonense! I don't give away US citizzenship that easily. People got to show me they really want to be American for me to bestow citizenship on them. All I see from Hispanics is hatred of the USA and of the "Anglos". They absolutely will not speak English, they go all-out to try and force the Spanish language on the USA, they will not be caught dead with a USA flag nor will they ever buy American made cars. They will not give their kids American names. They will not invest their eanrings back into the USA. I'm cool with giving citizenship to people like Filipinos, Nepalis, Vietnamese, Mahatma Gandhi Indians, etc.
Hispanics got to show me they really want to be American first.
Paul,
Don't worry. To become citizens immigrants must first become permanent legal residents (green card) and then wait 5 more years or so to -apply- for citizenship. Then to become a citizen you do have to learn some English, study how the US government works and its history, pass some tests, have no criminal records, show tax returns, and finally pledge allegiance to the United States of America. No small feat.
I hope you are aware that contrary to some people's beliefs, there are more Americans of Latin American descent speaking English at home today than all the Filipinos, Nepalis, Vietnamese, Mahatma Gandhi Indians and many more stripes put together.
So relax. When illegal immigration is finally under control and only legal immigrants are arriving, we will once again be able to tell apart the bigots from the concerned citizens.
Can't wait.
PS: When you say "American" names are you referring to "Flying Eagle" type red-blooded American names or European names? Just curious.
from: Paul Thørsen
PThorsen240@aol.com
"Flying Eagle" is a native American name, not to be confused with an American name, which are either names commonly used by the people who created the society or names distinct to the USA.
Filipino-Americans have their own unique female American names, names like Johnalynn, Revelyn, Ranalynn, Marvalynn, Davalynn....
Balck-Americans have their unique American names, names like Stevonne, Dontavious, Dontarrious, Montrell, Vernell, Odell.....
If a Hispanick is paying their life savings and risking their lives, desperate to be taken into Cherokee society, then yes, they need to give their kid a name like "Flying Eagle". If it is Inuit society in the Arctic they force their way into, then they need to give their kid a name like Nanook.
Did you know that Arhentina and Venezuela both have laws that require kids be given SPANISH names?! Meaning you go to prison if you don't give your kid a Spanish name.
I guess it's OK for you that Spaniards went around the world forcing full Spanish names on indigenous peoples, but when they force themselves into societies created by others, they refuse to just give their kids just 1 name commonly used by the people who created that society.
I'm a bit confused. You want to adopt an Arghentinian law in the US? Now, that would be a first.
We talking last names or just first names?
Is it OK to have an Italian first name like say, "Antonio" even though everyone knows you as "Tony"? Or is that too "Hispanic?" Which opens another can of worms 'cause most European names have Roman origins. Pietro and Peter, Julius, Juan and John, they are all at the core Hispanic (Romance) names you know. We would have to come up with a list of "approved Anglo names." But wait. Scots and Irish would NEVER adopt an Anglo name. It could get messy.
I'm sorry but "Johnalynn, Revelyn, Ranalynn, Marvalynn, Davalynn" are not American names. They are
Between you and me, if you come here legally, work hard, pay your taxes, don't break any laws and meet all your responsibilities as a citizen, I don't care if you are called Zbigniew Brzezinski, Noam Chomsky, Newt Gingrich, Barack Hussein Obama, Condoleezza Rice (what kind of an unpatriotic name is condoleeza anyways), Karl Rove, etc.
Build the Fence already I say. Israel is building a fence to keep Palestinians out and is working very well. Good fences do make good neighbors. As a Cuban American who came to the US, LEGALLY, I might add: Thank you Jimmy Carter, in the 1980 Mariel Boatlift, I am against Illegal Immigration period. Long before the Mariel Boatlift my parents applied to come to the US. We already had passports and then the Mariel Boatlift came. A better LEGAL opportunity came and we took it. Poverty is no reason to break international law. Mexico punishes Guatemalans etc who cross their borders to the south; yet they want the U.S. to accept willy nilly all their citizens. Pure hiprocracy. Andres, I'll tell you what tell the Mexican Gov't to provide for it's citizens and not jut the white ones like UNIVISION portrays on their tired novelas. Provide a decent life for their own citizens so they don't have to immigrate to the U.S. illegally.
from: Paul Thørsen
PThorsen240@aol.com
Hey anonymous, if names like Johnalynn, Revelyn, Ranalynn, Marvalynn and Davalynn aren't American names, then what kind of names are they? In what other country in the world would you find those names?
In what other country in the world would you find the names Condoleeza, Dontavious, Dontarrious, Martavious and Jermell?
I will ask you again if you have problems with Hispanicks going around the world forcing full Spanish names on everyone. Filipinos already had their own beautiful native family names like Macadangdang, Gocong, Macapagal, Magsaysay, Tabangcora and Cabunoc.
Native Mexicans already had beautiful last names like Chichimecatecuhtli.
Sos grande, Oppenhaimer. Seguí como hasta ahora
Let's not forget (all of you concerned, fair and altruistic americans) that the peasants that cross the border leaving family, friends and their own land have to do so to work at the subsidized farms which they cannot compete with in a free trade zone. When are you going to understand that trade and people's mobility go together? Want to stop good, hard working people coming here? eliminate subsidies and be ready to pay double for your vegetables and basic services. Otherwise I will call you hypocrites, whining whilo reaping the economical benefits provided by these workers.
from: Paul Thørsen
PThorsen240@aol.com
Hey fernando, if Hispanics are indeed such "good, hard working people", why is is that all of Spanish speaking Latin America is a failure with the populace paying their life savings and risking their lives to get the hell out?!
Good, hard working people would theoretically create good, successful countries.
from: Paul Thørsen
PThorsen240@aol.com
Hey fernando, this is what Thomas Friedman, the author of the mega best-selling book, has to say about Hispanics being "hard workers":
from the book "The World is Flat", by Thomas L. Friedman, copyright 2005
page 316
Latin American would be the fun part of town, the club district, where the workday doesn't begin until ten PM and everyone sleeps until midmorning. It's definitely the place to hang out, but in between the clubs, you don't see a lot of new businesses opening up, except on the street where the Chileans live.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/border/140004
Mr Chertoff is absolutely totally a 100% right. The hermosillo people and Don Andres defend the Mexicans felons, Chertoff defend us Americans
Well done Paul! you read one book, now you need to read a few more... : )
I supposed creating one of the ten largest economies in the world and being an important part of the largest makes us a failure... people's mobility is not news, only to you, but we all know in this forum that you do not contribute anything to the discussion, only your sad little hypocritical speech. Guess what? you are going to have to deal with the fact that this country is a better place thanks to people different from you. Cheers!
Mr. Fernando: A succesful country do not send their people to infringe other country's law, to do the lowest jobs and commit crimes in that country. Get rid of corruption in Mexico and do not try to export it to my country, you felons!!!
Nativists always attack whichever immigrant happen to be coming to America at the time and the source country, this is nothing new. However, the attacks againts Hispanics and Latin America remain just as foul, just as childish, just as derogatory.
Chertoff is not the main problem, but the Bush administration should demonstrate that immigrant-bashing is not acceptable.
Everyone should.
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