More Misinformation from the Media:
In the matter of immigration. . . . The United States has too many people . . . who need to return whence they came. I speak of Americans whose families have been in this country a few generations. . . . On point after point American nonimmigrants are failing our country. Crime? A study by the CATO Institute note that nonimmigrants are incarcerated at nearly twice the rate of illegal immigrants. . . . Religious piety—especially the Christian variety? More illegal immigrants identify as Christian (83 percent) than do Americans (70.6 percent). . . . Business creation? Nonimmigrants start businesses at half the rate of immigrants, and accounted for fewer than half the companies started in Silicon Valley between 1995 and 2008. . . . Because I’m the child of immigrants and grew up abroad, I have always thought that the United States as a country belongs first to its newcomers. – Only Mass Deportation Can Save America, The New York Times, The Opinion Pages, Bret Stephens, 6/16/17. [Link]
Fact Check: This attempt at humor rehashes the tired old line of immigration advocates that foreign-born folks are a higher order of beings than natives. The writer ludicrously suggests, as these advocates often do, that illegal aliens are somehow more law-abiding than Americans. And just how can they be more law-abiding when by definition they are all law-breakers?
The claim that they are incarcerated less than natives for crimes not related to their immigration status is speculation more than anything else. As one commentator notes, “There are no reliable statistics about the legal status of foreign-born inmates.” In point of fact, it is hard to find any comprehensive data about crime and illegal aliens. Critics charge that authorities don’t want the public to know.
With respect to illegal aliens “identifying” as Christians, one might wonder about the “piety” of people who regularly and wantonly break our laws to remain in our country illegally. Their crimes are not victimless. In the words of Christ, a good tree does not bear evil fruits.
The claim that immigrants are vastly more entrepreneurial than natives simply isn’t true. Studies show [Here] and [Here] that the percentage of business ownership by natives and immigrants is about the same, with immigrants having only a small edge. Offsetting that edge is that native business owners have likely to have more employees than immigrants. Also, immigrant owners tend to hire other immigrants as employees, a practice of limited benefit to the general society.
Stephens doesn’t name his source for his statement about Silicon Valley. Immigration advocates often exaggerate the number of immigrant-created business. They do so by defining them as immigrant founded, even if there is only one immigrant among a number of other co-founders.
The notion that “our country belongs first to its newcomers” is the view of someone who lacks proper respect and gratitude toward generations of Americans who—prior to the arrival of his family—built, maintained, and nurtured this country. It is also an expression of arrogance and contempt—and the writer’s pretense of humor doesn’t hide that one bit.