The Quote Below – More Misinformation from the Media
“I’m a George W. Bush, pro-immigration reform Republican, the son of an immigrant and someone who welcomes legal immigrants to our country. But the caravan of roughly 7,000 would-be asylum seekers marching through Mexico toward the U.S. represents all that is wrong with our immigration system. . . .
‘One of the reasons the U.S. is attractive to immigrants is because we are a nation of laws. But that doesn’t mean that the first thing immigrants can do is break the laws to get here. . . .
‘Nor can all immigrants claim refugee or asylum status. Most of those who come here from Mexico and Central America seek to escape poverty in their native countries. If everyone who lives in poverty marched into the United States, our immigration laws would become meaningless and our country would go broke.” – Legal Immigration Enriches America – Illegal Immigration Doesn’t, Ari Fleischer, Fox News, 10/24/18 [Link]
Fact Check of Quote: Most of this article is not misinformation at all. In fact, Mr. Fleischer makes some excellent points about the need to stop illegal immigration. Nevertheless, when he says he’s a “George W. Bush, pro-immigration reform Republican” he undercuts his message. Bush’s notion of “reform” was granting amnesty and a pathway to citizenship to almost all the illegal aliens living in the United States.
What it did was send the message to potential illegal aliens around the world that amnesty was a real possibility, one they might enjoy if they decided to come here. Barak Obama sent out the same message during his administration. Since the first amnesty in 1986, illegal immigration has surged. And is it any wonder that it has when we reward it–and propose to reward it—with amnesty. It’s strange that Fleischer would wish to incentivize the illegal immigration he says he opposes. If he is truly a “George W. Bush Republican,” that’s exactly what he is doing.
His assertion that legal immigration enriches America is misinformation because it suggests that legal immigration is always enriching—regardless evidently of its composition or level. That is as nonsensical as saying that food is always enriching to health. That’s not the case if the food in question is junk food eaten in huge quantities.
Similarly, our massive level of legal immigration is overwhelming our power of assimilation, just as too much food overwhelms digestion. Further complicating the problem is that many immigrants are poor and bring cultural beliefs and values highly antithetical to our own. When we were an undeveloped frontier country, a high level of immigration made some sense. But today we are fully developed—while we maintain the highest sustained level of legal immigration in our history.
Immigration enthusiasts maintain that this deluge is blessing us with “diversity.” But research shows that the more diverse our cities are, the less civic and social cohesion they have. That’s not enriching at all.