Flake, McCain insult immigrants pretending to know what they want

The immigrant experience: Why it is so insulting for guys like Flake and McCain to pretend to know what people want

What immigrants want is pretty much what everyone wants, namely make a decent living, have protection from crime, provide a good education for their children, and be left alone by the government.

Beyond those basic desires, there are vast differences in what some specific groups want, based on their background and expectations.

Let us consider legal immigrants first. Generally speaking, legal immigrants fall into two categories. Those who came here for political reasons and those who came for economic improvement. The former tend to come from the higher echelons of the social strata in their country of origin. They tend to be more informed and better educated. They are more likely to be politically savvy and demand and expect little or no government assistance. In fact, because of their former bad experience with government, they tend to be more reluctant to favor big government overall. By contrast, those who migrate for economic reasons almost always occupy a lower niche in their country of origin’s socio-economic ladder. As a result, they tend to expect and demand a much higher level of government assistance. They are more susceptible to the lure of big government and the assistance it promises.

Illegal immigrants are more often than not economic migrants on steroids. They are not just lower in the economic strata, they are near the bottom. In their own country they were heavily dependent on government assistance. Part of their motivation to migrate here is the allure of much higher government handouts. For the most part they are hardworking, industrious people, but this does not prevent them from seeking and taking advantage of every bit of government assistance they can get. One of their main goals is to work hard and send a high percentage of their earnings back to their country of origin. In countries like Mexico, for example, the ability of these folks to ever advance economically is virtually none. But by sending money back, they can build a tidy nest egg that would guarantee them a comfortable existence when they return back home. Their dreams and aspirations generally do not include U. S. citizenship, or even permanent residency in this country.

It is against the foregoing background that one must analyze the attitudes of the three major players in the immigration/amnesty game, namely Democrat politicians, Main Stream Media, and some Republican politicians.

It is easy to understand why Democrat politicians show universal support for amnesty in combination with little or no control over future illegal immigrants. Because of the background of most illegal immigrants, a path to citizenship is better characterized as a path to Democrat voters.

Since the Main Stream Media, over the last fifty years, has become heavily invested in the Liberal agenda as promoted by Democrats, it is easy to understand their stand in favor of amnesty.

What is not so clear is why so many Republican elected officials are in favor of amnesty. The narrative supporting their position goes something like this. “Hispanics are a natural fit for the Republican Party. They are, for the most part, devout Catholics and as such are opposed to abortions. They are hard-working, enterprising folks who support free enterprise. If we give them amnesty they will be forever grateful and join the Republican ranks in droves”. The problem is that polls and statistics do not support this narrative.

A 2012 USA Today/Gallup poll revealed some very interesting results. Among Hispanic illegal immigrants, immigration issues were tied for first place with healthcare and unemployment. However, for Hispanic registered voters, immigration policies ranked 5th, behind healthcare, unemployment, economic growth, and the gap between the rich and the poor. The results for Hispanics registered to vote were not very different from the results for all U. S. registered voters. In the same USA Today/Gallup poll, U. S. registered voters ranked immigration policies 6th, only one notch below the Hispanics. Despite the constant drumbeat by Democrats and Main Stream Media, Hispanic voters do not consider immigration issues a priority.

Next let us look at some interesting statistics. The following chart shows the Hispanic vote in presidential elections since 1980:

For our discussion, the two most interesting elections took place in 1988 and 2008. In 1986, the Republicans, led by Reagan, ramrodded amnesty as a one-time occurrence. In the 1988 presidential election, the first one following implementation of Amnesty, the Hispanic voters showed their appreciation by going 30% for Bush, a drop of 4 points from their 1984 performance. In 2006, McCain pushed extremely hard for amnesty, It did not pass, but it was not for lack of effort on his part, aided and abetted by Senator Kyl and President Bush. Yet in 2008 he got only a typically paltry 31% of the Hispanic vote. Again, voting Hispanics thanked McCain for his amnesty efforts by voting in droves for Obama.

If immigration/amnesty is not a main motivator for Hispanic voting, then what is? One possible answer may be found in a 2010 survey conducted by the Center for Immigration Studies, involving both legal and illegal immigrants from a variety of countries. That survey measured, among other things, the percentage of immigrants that were receiving government assistance. It showed that the UK had the lowest incidence of government assistance at 7.2%, and the Dominican Republic had the highest at 82.3%. The second ranked country was Guatemala at 75.0%. Mexico, a major contributor of both legal and illegal immigrants to Arizona, ranked a very close third at 74.7%.

When analyzing seemingly hard to explain behavior, it is amazing how easy the task becomes by simply applying the true and tried test of, “follow the money”. Ideology has very little to do with it. Hispanics vote Democrat because Democrats promise them more free stuff.

At this point in the discussion, most political observers would be totally perplexed by the position of some Republican elected officials. If Hispanic voters do not regard immigration as a major issue, and if amnesty has not produced one single measurable bump in Hispanic vote for Republicans, why are so many Republicans intent in pursuing amnesty?

The obvious, easy, and unfortunately wrong answer is that they are stupid, do not get it, and need to be educated. For the most part, they are not stupid and they do get it. They just have a sick idea of what their role is as legislators. A more likely answer may be found, again, by applying that good old test, “follow the money”. Certain industries stand to continue to make huge profits by having a constant supply of cheap labor in the form of unskilled immigrants. Two such industries that have a prominent role in Arizona are the hospitality and the construction industries. It is easy to understand why some Republican leaders, anxious to please these industries, would favor all kinds of pandering to the Hispanics, including advocating amnesty.

But let us assume that Republicans are not interested in out pandering the Democrats and are not trying to obtain favor with industries that exploit illegal immigrants. Then the question still remains as to what they should do to gain favor with, and votes from, Hispanics.

The first step is for them to decide that they are going to think and act like Republicans instead of trying to emulate and outdo the Democrats. Their operating motto could be a phrase coined many years ago by John Kasich of Ohio, “we do not measure compassion by how many people we help, we measure compassion by how many people no longer need our help”. Most Hispanic immigrants would respond positively to that message because they would much rather be self-sufficient than remain in the Democrat economic plantation.

Second, those true Republicans must find a way to let the world know about their stand, rather than letting their adversaries define who they are. Since the main stream media is in the bag for the Liberal Democrats, the only way for the Republicans to get their message out in this medium is by buying commercial ads in major media outlets, including Spanish speaking media. Additionally they should develop a social media strategy to get that same message out. In other words, they must have the one-two punch of using both traditional and new media to promote and showcase their message.

Hopefully, the Republicans will wake up and act before they repeat the tremendous error they made in 1986.