Open Border Bigotry

The Bigotry Behind Open Borders<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
 
by Donald Hank
 
Condescension is Next to Bigotry
 
Advocates of amnesty and open borders love to repeat the mantra "they're just looking for a better way of life." Many of them are Christian groups that have taken pity on immigrants and are willing to violate the law to shelter them.
 
Hidden in this statement is a subtle form of racism, or at the very least, condescension toward Latinos. People who say this assume a lot of things about Latins, all of them essentially false.
 
Let's analyze these words: "better" can only mean that the gringo lifestyle is superior to theirs. That stinks to high heaven. I have traveled in Latin America and for me, it is, in ways that count, a superior lifestyle that excels in friendliness and hospitality: I recall the first time we went to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Panama around New Year's. Just before midnight on the last day of the year, my children's Grandma took us on a little tour of the neighborhood. It was poor to be sure. The houses were cramped. But inside, there was a little table set up overflowing with food and treats.
 
Perfect strangers, we were instantly accepted as part of the family. I sensed that if my family and I were in trouble, these people would give us shelter until such time as we were back on our feet. Grandma herself has taken in such a motley bunch of people, including her son and his family but also several men and women who were down on their luck, that my wife constantly chides her for her excessive generosity. But Grandma never complains. She believes that God will bless her as she blesses others. And of course, He does.
 
Sound like your neighborhood? Mine neither.
 
Further, since the above-cited liberals insist on opening the border and keeping it open, and letting everyone who has sneaked in illegally stay here and enjoy all the benefits of a US citizen, we can infer that they believe the ethnic groups and nations from which these illegal immigrants come are totally incapable of building a decent culture and a strong economy in their homelands. Are they convinced that these people are of inferior stock? That, genetically, they just don't have what it takes? After all, in the not-too-distant past, some Christian missionaries were treating black Africans as inferiors, making them dress as they did, learn English, and stay away from the white women. Isn't the open border idea just a further refinement of that racism?
 
Outwardly, this may have changed, but the underlying idea that white Christians are superior is not far beneath the surface.
 
All this and Age Discrimination too
 
Suppose you, like my Panamanian mother-in-law, decided to be a good neighbor and built a shelter for the homeless and needy. People would say: That person is behaving like a true Christian, so altruistic.
 
But then suppose you said to them: Here is the bill for my kind heartedness: $1,500 per month for the rental of my building, $250 a month for the power, $100 a month for the phone (he didn't use Vonage), $800 a month for food and so on.
 
They'd change their tune in a hurry.
 
Yet all of these kindhearted Christian and other liberal groups that insist on opening our borders to everyone are doing just that.
 
All of this supposed altruism costs taxpayers and workers billions annually for social services and in terms of depressed waged and job losses.
 
And who pays for this soft-heartedness? Certainly not the "kindhearted" folks who dreamed up this boondoggle.
 
It will be their own children and grandchildren and their descendants who pay.
 
In other words, on top of the bigotry toward Latinos, these people are also guilty of outrageous age discrimination, heaping debt upon debt on the young people that come after them.
 
Of course, this goes to the very heart of what socialism, or leftism, really is: a wolf in sheep's clothing. It claims to be altruistic but in fact, it sends someone else the bill.
 
No wonder the "Christian" Left, headed up by Jim Wallis, is behind so much of this open border clamor, accusing realistic, common-sense hardworking Americans of being bad Christians because they refuse to join him in giving other people's stuff away.
 
The Solution
 
A long time ago, Christian groups, such as churches and missions, were the ones who saw it as their own legitimate burden to lend the poor a helping hand.
 
We have forgotten that principle to our peril. Many churches now see it as their duty to force you to lend a helping hand, even if it means impoverishing you and your family. They utilize the political process to do so.
 
The only sensible way to help both Latin America and North America is to return to that principle of helping without the middleman of government.
 
Habitat for Humanity is on the right track, but the wrong train. Simply building shelters for people isn't the answer. Latin America's biggest problem is lack of education, and this costs both them and us. It is estimated that each illegal immigrant family with children who are high-school dropouts costs the US taxpayer about $18,000 per year.
 
Christian groups that want to lose the condescending/bigot image need to acknowledge that Latin America is not a cursed land that can never bear fruit. They need to wake up and realize that with an attitude change, Mexico, for example, the richest country in the region, has the wealth and human resources to become, on its own, an economic power. They need to understand that by insisting that the only recourse for Latinos who want a "better" way of life is emigration to North America is not only to denigrate the Latin culture and ethnicity but in fact to undermine the determination of those Latinos who have a vision of Latin America as a better place in itself that does not need the US. In other words, these phony altruists need to stop being so ethnocentric and egocentric. They need to swallow their pride and give up the childish vision of the US as the only place that is livable on the continent.
 
The best thing they can do is to start missions built around Christian schools for teaching trades and even Christian universities in Latin America.
 
Now that is a little difficult in Mexico, which has traditionally been anti-missionary in its laws and spirit. But this open-border group has been wildly successful in bringing pressure to bear on politicians, having persuaded a US President to stop enforcing the law, in flagrant violation of his oath. Therefore, if it can put aside the bigotry on which its premises are based, namely, if it can give up the idea that Latin America is a hopelessly inhospitable region that could not possibly sustain a decent human life, it can truly help the Latino world by bringing the same pressure to bear on our current administration, persuading it to adopt a more realistic attitude toward Mexico, insisting that that country accept private aid from churches committed to utilizing local professional and other staff trained in imparting a Christian message while teaching useful skills.  If this were coupled with the same kind of strict border enforcement that Mexico wields against, say, illegal immigrants from Guatemala, the result would be an economically stronger Mexico from where very few would wish to, or be able to, emigrate.
 
Of course, for those who think we can continue on the present course of opening the doors and pretending we have no immigration laws, remember that Latin America is only part of the Third World with tired and poor who want to live here.
 
Are you prepared for, say, 2 billion Asians and Africans?
 
If so, just send in your phone numbers and addresses. We'll let them know your doors are open.
 
Donald Hank is a technical translator and staff writer for Laigle's Forum.
Contact: don@zoilandonsplace.com
 

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