One of the prerequisites for any immigration debate taking place in North America or Europe is that no advocate for reasonable immigration policies be given an equal opportunity to voice his or her views on the subject. The very notion that someone opposing unfettered third world immigration might be given the chance to articulate the views of most American citizens is anathema to our media gatekeepers. Thus, we have the spectacle of Mark Krikorian sharing a platform with two open borders dogmatists from ostensibly different parts of the ideological spectrum, despite there being very persuasive progressive and libertarian arguments against mass immigration to the West from the developing world.

Even so, this discussion of the 2016 presidential race-as well as the relative merits of the various candidates-is worth watching. There may come a time very soon when patriotic immigration voices are silenced altogether. Just ask our German friends about that.

A big tip of the hat to James Fulford for bringing to my attention a Firing Line debate which shaped my opinions on this subject, the greatest domestic and foreign policy issue of our time, during my formative years. You can view the complete episode, divided into nine parts, on Ryan Kennedy’s Youtube channel. Proving yet again that the world’s most popular video-sharing website can be put towards a more nobler purpose than consuming the latest Taylor Swift music-video. 

1994 was an historic year not only because it saw the introduction of Proposition 187, which would prove to be the last major political effort to thwart the inexorable decline of the Golden State, but because it proved to be the beginning of the end for robust public debates about this subject. After the surprising success of Pat Buchanan’s second insurgent campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and the forceful prescience of Peter Brimelow’s seminal work, Alien Nation, in 1996, the voices of dissent were methodically stilled by the bien pensant gatekeepers of immigration dogma.

These days speaking uncomfortable truths about the cultural and political transformation of this country only guarantee you exile from the quarters of decision-making power, whether you be an intrepid, career journalist with impeccable liberal credentials-such as Mickey Kaus-or a dedicated civil servant and patriot like Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions. The case of Peter Brimelow himself is instructive, since it demonstrates that defying elite consensus in this arena is more injurious to your personal and professional status than holding any other perceived heterodox opinion. A respected financial/economic journalist, Mr. Brimelow today is disinvited from public forums with no connection to immigration policy simply because of his refusal to bend his principles in order to accommodate the mandarins of multiculturalism.

The public sphere in this country used to be a more robust thing. Unfortunately, those days are long past, however we can still watch what it looked like online. At least, for the time being. Kudos to Peter and Co. for hanging in there, and good riddance to Ms. Huffington!

Robert Menendez’s “I am not a crook” presser, following his indictment by the Justice Department, pretty much ran to form, including his personal Hispandering simultaneous translation en Español. One of the underreported ironies of this story is the fact that some of the charges revolve around a scheme whereby the Soprano State’s Senator demanded visas for his benefactor’s foreign girlfriends. Open borders zealotry-masked as compassionate advocacy, naturally-and naked self-interest are almost always intertwined, although never remarked upon by a deficient news media eager to highlight the existential plight of illegal aliens.

Whether Senator Melendez’s eventual replacement-like his predecessors, I doubt he will emerge from this scandal unscathed-will be as receptive to criminal alien sex offenders remains to be seen, but you can be assured that he or she will most likely be devoted to the same warped principles regarding immigration and border control. And the press corps will continue to manipulate the news cycle in order to obfuscate the matter. The citizens of New Jersey, of course, will be all the poorer for it, as Mr. Melendez’s escapades illustrate.

And the myth of the “highly-skilled” H-1B visa holder continues to be propagated by the mainstream media with nary a word of dissent voiced. In this case, it’s being broadcast by NPR, which has never met a specious open borders argument it wouldn’t wholeheartedly embrace.  For the record, there are actually more STEM graduates than STEM job openings, something which will occasionally be acknowledged by liberal opinion-shapers, but apparently not by the high priests of National Public Radio. 

So much for robust debate.

However, just because invertebrate Republican politicians are cowering in fear of non-existent mobs of pro-amnesty voters doesn’t mean that you should abandon hope. There is still a robust counterattack taking place throughout America. Tomorrow is the first in a series of Make Them Listen Mondays, which are intended to remind Congress who they (ostensibly) work for. You can find all the necessary contact information for your members of Congress by accessing this link.

I urge all of you to exploit this opportunity before it’s too late.

One of the more galling aspects of an otherwise unremarkable speech delivered by the President commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was the attempt to link the struggle of the Civil Rights Movement during the 20th century with the attempts by open borders demagogues to further erode the value of American citizenship. Although to most reasonable Americans the linkage between these two social-political movements would seem puzzling-if not patently offensive-it is one repeatedly made by the treason lobby, perhaps most bizarrely by the permanently deranged Frank Sharry, who compared the current plight of illegal aliens to the suffering of antebellum slaves in the United States.

Oddly enough, it wasn’t too long ago that seemingly principled liberals opposed legislation which would retard the economic progress of the poorest Americans while at the same time reinforcing entrenched stratification. And while some still oppose a bill that would handicap the most disadvantaged American workers-in spite of overwhelming pressure to capitulate to the prevailing  kultursmog-most have succumbed to the open borders ideology which animates most elite institutions.

That’s why the letter penned by Coretta Scott King-the widow of the man whose name is synonymous with the march President Obama honored a few days ago-and issued by the Black Leadership Forum in opposition to a law that also expanded the opportunities for immigrants while introducing the dreadful Diversity Lottery at the expense of working class Americans, is required reading. The fact that there was a point in the not so distant past where liberal Democrats opposed the machinations of the cheap labor lobby-rather than bragged about their alliance with the Chamber of Commerce-is information that needs to be impressed upon those who have not been paying attention to this momentous debate, which-like the March on Washington before it-will have an inalterable impact upon the future of this nation.

National Public Radio is, almost without exception, a black hole when it comes to obtaining accurate, reliable information and analysis about immigration. Half of the on-air talent could be executed by members of MS-13, and the following day’s headline on NPR would probably be “Aggrieved Undocumented Migrants Exact Misdirected Revenge Against Jan Brewer.” That’s why I was pleasantly surprised by Brian Lehrer’s interview of Hipolito Acosta, a veteran of the INS who has written Shadow Catcher, a revelatory look into the audacious cross-border operations initiated  during his tenure to eliminate human smuggling into the United States.

I’d love to hear the impressions of anyone who has read the book, which-based upon everything I’ve heard-seems like an incredibly fascinating chronicle of the life of a career law enforcement officer intent upon ensuring our nation’s border security.

As President Obama follows through on his earlier promises of amnesty by fiat, the Internet is swirling with speculation as to motives, consequences, and potential political fallout. I had an interesting exchange on Twitter yesterday that touched upon these issues indirectly when a follower confidently averred that the administration’s earlier decision to impose Secure Communities upon state and local governments would moot any broader discussion of amnesty, as illegal aliens living throughout affected jurisdictions came into the orbit of ICE. Unfortunately, despite assertions by John Morton in the past, I don’t believe the Obama adminstration has any intention of following through on this plan, especially in light of the President’s propensity to proffer the politically expedient lie when it suits his purposes.

With Democratic governors from the states of Massachusetts, Illinois, and The Empire State all refusing to abide by the law-following in the footsteps of President Obama’s own Secretary of Homeland Security, it should be noted-and a politically revitalized coalition of Hispanic advocacy organizations and open borders advocates, led by honorary Mexican Consul General Luis Gutierrez, the notion that President Obama isn’t going to abandon all immigration enforcement strains credulity. Secure Communities isn’t even the most effective tool for federal-local collaboration when it comes to immigration enforcement, as this website has pointed out in the past, yet rest assured that it too will be jettisoned, especially as November 2012 rapidly approaches and Obama’s standing among the radical left, i.e. “progressives,” becomes essential to his reelection. The ecstatic mood among this particular voting bloc is evident to anyone who has visited the Daily Kos within the past week.

As I delineated in my earlier post on this subject, the main theme that needs to be stressed now is what can be done to combat the Obama amnesty. Unfortunately, aside from the characteristically courageous statement issued by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, Republican elected officials have been almost completely AWOL in the days since President Obama and his underlings decided to stop enforcing immigration laws against anyone who isn’t an ultra-violent. Whether that will change in the days ahead is an open question, but I haven’t been encouraged by the anemic response from most Republican talking heads, particularly our presidential candidates, to an executive decision that flouts separation of powers and makes a mockery of congressional authority.

One of the Republican front-runners who’s been exceptional, insofar as that superlative can be attached to any of these candidates, in this regard is Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachmann. Although she has yet to come out with a forceful denunciation of Obama’s administrative amnesty, as of yesterday, at least, she has been a consistent supporter of immigration enforcement. This part of her legislative and public record has been repeatedly documented and has been reaffirmed by the congresswoman herself in recent days. The only other (major)  presidential aspirant-and I must add the caveat that she has yet to declare her candidacy-who has a comparable record is former John McCain running-mate Sarah Palin. The former governor of Alaska has consistently and vehemently defended defended SB 1070, as well as Governor Jan Brewer.

I am not endorsing the candidacy of either woman, but suggesting that the philosophy they’ve espoused is where anyone seriously vying for the Republican presidential nomination should begin. The insipid open borders pandering of John Huntsman, the deceitful charade of Rick Perry, and the sophistry of pseudo-intellectual Newt Gingrich can not substitute for a consistent, sincere commitment to tougher border security, robust internal enforcement, sensible immigration restrictions, and implacable opposition to amnesty, especially the patently unconstitutional, extralegal form of amnesty that President Obama’s flunkies have foisted upon an embattled, denigrated American public.

The person who ultimately wins the GOP nod, in other words, should emulate the example of the brave woman whose photograph you see above. Yes, that person should be able to articulate this viewpoint in a manner befitting the circumstances of  his or her campaign, but the determination and the underlying message-at least as far as the subject of immigration is concerned-should be consonant with the principles enunciated by Governor Brewer and this website for the past year. Allowing President Obama to skate on this issue is not only a politically disastrous prescription-which will embolden an open borders left already flush with victory while simultaneously bolstering Barack Obama’s flagging reelection campaign-but one that is ruinous to America as a society. That’s the message that needs to be drilled into the heads of Republican office-seekers who want to lead this nation.

Mark Krikorian, the indefatigable head of the Center for Immigration Studies, has a fantastic explanation of the controversy involving California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman’s former maid in yesterday’s edition of NRO’s The Corner. He makes a number of very good points, foremost among them the assertion that if Whitman had pursued any legitimate suspicions she may have had about her employee’s immigration status she would have been subjected to harassment by various federal agencies dedicated to “equal employment opportunities.” An assertion supported by numerous immigration attorneys.

This isn’t to suggest that there aren’t many substantive reasons to critique the Whitman campaign, especially its wildly inconsistent stances on immigration  and politically opportunistic pandering to Hispanic voters. However, the notion that Mrs. Whitman is some sort of flagrant scofflaw who should be immediately placed in leg irons  borders on the absurd. This does beg the question, “what about Nicky Diaz?” For a group that the open borders acolytes are continually asking to “come out of the shadows” these illegal aliens seem to have little to no reservation about holding widely-viewed, televised press conferences.

Doesn’t that strike anyone as a bit odd? Perhaps it’s just me.