At this year’s annual National Council of La Raza Conference, Kansas City Mayor Mark Holland—a Democrat—boasted that 62 languages are spoken in one school district.
The National Council of La Raza is an ethnically-focused lobbying organization that has strongly supported proposals to increase annual immigration to the United States. Under current policy, the U.S. issues more than 1 million green cards each year to foreign nationals.
“Kansas City, Kansas, is a city with no ethnic majority. Kansas City, Kansas, is 40 percent white, 28 percent Latino, and 26 percent African-American,” Holland told the crowd. “Our school district speaks 62 different languages by the children every single day.”
“We continue to have a number of groups of refugees from around the world,” he continued. “We have a large group of Hmong refugees from the Vietnam War who were allies with the United States, who have a strong presence in Kansas City, Kansas, as well.”
Holland intimated that Kansas City’s inclusive environment has allowed Democrats to gain a stronghold within the city and promote their policy agendas.
“We now are home to another group that has a settlement in Kansas City, Kansas. A highly persecuted group in the state of Kansas: the Democrats.” Holland said, “Democrats still have a foothold in Kansas City, Kansas, and we’re very proud of that. And because Democrats are in Wyandotte County, we welcome our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters and celebrate their life and their love, and always will.”
Holland’s remarks follow on the heels of a declaration from Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL) on the House floor Wednesday morning that green cards can be used to electorally thump Republicans.
“Every time you see Trump’s face on your TV, vow to learn a little more English or a few more history facts so you can take the [citizenship] test,” Gutiérrez said. “Let’s turn Trump’s negative words into something positive. That is how you deal with bullies and bigots.”
“Almost all of the immigrants in this country are going to remain in this country until the day they die, let’s be honest. So for the millions who meet the requirements of citizenship I say: take the step,” he added.
In addition to the 19.3 million immigrants in the United States who are naturalized citizens, there are more than 8.8 million additional immigrants in the United States who have been issued green cards and would be eligible to become naturalized citizens.
“With fee waivers, up to 20 percent of all of those 8.8 million [green card holders] will pay absolutely nothing for their citizenship application,” Gutiérrez said.“Becoming a citizen for free so you can make it clear that you are offended by Donald Trump is poetic and patriotic. Rather than renew your green card for $450, become a citizen for about $230 more. Or zero if you’re part of the 20 percent.”
A green card is a document issued by the federal government that allows a foreign citizen to become a lifetime resident of the U.S., apply for citizenship, bring family members into the country, and collect welfare. Unlike illegal immigrants, legal immigrants receive lifetime work permits despite the presence of nearly 93 million U.S. residents outside the labor force.
Thus, even if the border were sealed up completely, the vast bulk of immigration from poor countries into the United States would continue completely unaffected. Long-term immigration levels would fall only if Congress passed a law to reduce or stop the autopilot issuance of green cards—that is, to reduce the number of immigrants legally allowed to become part of the U.S. labor market.
Gutiérrez’s suggestion that the federal government’s green card policy will allow Democrats to pick and choose the policies and Presidents of the United States reinforces the research from conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly. According to a report released by her organization last year, the annual flow of 1.1 million legal immigrants under the current system will create more than 5 million new potential voters by 2024 and more than 8 million by 2028.
As Schlafly noted in her call to reduce these federal immigration quotas:
There is nothing controversial about the report’s conclusion that both Hispanics and Asians, who account for about three-fourth of today’s immigrants, generally agree with the Democrats’ big-government agenda. It is for this reason that they vote two-to-one for Democrats.
The 2008 National Annenberg Election Survey found that 62 percent of immigrants prefer a single, government-run health-care system. The 2010 Cooperative Congressional Election Study found that 69 percent of immigrants support Obamacare. Pew also found that 53 percent of Hispanics have a negative view of capitalism, the highest of any group surveyed. This is even higher than the 47 percent among self-identified supporters of Occupy Wall Street.
The Pew Research Center has also found that 75 percent of Hispanics prefer a “bigger government providing more services,” and only 19 percent prefer a smaller government. Pew also reported that 55 percent of Asians prefer “bigger government providing more services,” and only 36 percent prefer a smaller government. So it’s no surprise that in 2012, 71 percent of Hispanics and 73 percent of Asians voted for Obama.
Even Republican emphasis on patriotism and national sovereignty is likely to alienate many immigrants. A Harris poll found that 81 percent of native-born Americans believe our schools should teach students to be proud of being American, compared with only 50 percent of immigrants who had become naturalized U.S. citizens.
If lower immigration levels are not established, the Census Bureau estimates another 14 million immigrants will enter the USA over the next ten years.
Most of the Republican candidates running for president in 2016 have yet to take a position on whether to curb or halt the issuance of green cards being championed by Gutiérrez, while Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has coauthored legislation to triple the number of green cards issued to foreign nationals.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.