This nation's civil rights movement of the 1960s broke the back of overt white supremacy that prevented black Americans (who were citizens) from enjoying the rights guaranteed to them under the Constitution. Undeniably, the freedoms codified by civil rights-era legislation have made life better for all Americans — regardless of skin color, gender or national origin.
The Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965 (also known as the Hart-Celler Act or the INS Act of 1965) abolished the national-origin quotas that had been in place in the
United States since the
Immigration Act of 1924. It was proposed by
Emanuel Celler and heavily supported by
Senator Ted Kennedy.
In the two decades that followed, along with millions of legal immigrants, the U.S. attracted a huge, mainly Hispanic, illegal population -- roughly 3 million of whom received amnesty from Ronald Reagan in 1986.
Illegal immigration describes migration across national borders without complying with the legal requirements.
As of
July 1,
2004, Hispanics accounted for 14.1% of the population [including the 11 million illegals]) or about 41.3 million people. Hispanic growth rate over the
July 1,
2003 to
July 1,
2004 period was of 3.6 %, higher than any other ethnic group in the United States, and in fact, more than three times the rate of the nation's total population (at 1.0%).
The projected Hispanic population of the United States for
July 1,
2050, is 102.6 million people. According to this projection, Hispanics will then make up 24% of the nation’s total population.
[2]At the same time, the black population is projected to rise from 35.8 million to 61.4 million by 2050, an increase of about 26 million or 71 percent. That would raise their share of the country’s population from 12.7 percent to 14.6 percent.
``This is the defining moment for the Republican Party,'' said Sen. Lindsay Graham, (R) South Carolina, said on the ``Fox News Sunday'' program. With Hispanics the fastest-growing group in the U.S., Republicans ``will lose our majority'' if Congress passes harsh penalties for illegal immigrants and fails to create a way of addressing the estimated 11 million undocumented workers already in the U.S., he said.
No matter how you look at it, it is the United State of America not the United States of the Americas. If Mexicans and other foreigners want to make it here legally, more power to them. Let them use the legal means. Let them earn the rights and citizenship not just have it handed to them because they are here.
Hispanic, as used in the
United States, is one of several terms used to categorize persons whose ancestry hails either from
Spain, the
Spanish-speaking countries of
Latin America, or the original settlers of the traditionally Spanish-held
Southwestern United States. The term is used as a broad form of classification in the U.S. census, local and federal employment, and numerous business market researches.
In Spanish speaking America, when speaking of any given nation's Hispanic population, those who are implied include
criollos,
mestizos, and
mulattos, but excludes indigenous
Amerindians, the unmixed descendants of black
African slaves, and other more recent non-Spanish immigrants which may now reside in Latin America. In this context, regardless of whether the excluded groups now use Spanish as their first and only language. As is the case with all
blacks, most Amerindians and the great majority of immigrants do not qualify for Hispanicity,
We disagree with many immigrant-rights organizers [seemingly only Hispanic Latino] and their sympathizers who seem to be saying that there is some inherent right to enter the United States, thumb their noses at the law [it is against the law to cross the border without permission, even for Citizens] and at the same time make fools out of those who wait patiently in foreign lands for visas to come to the United States.
Roughly 60% of the illegal alien populationare undocumented aliens and 40% are nonimmigrant overstayers. The
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States found that the government inadequately tracked those with expired tourist or student visas.
Crossing the border without authorization is a
misdemeanor for the first offense and a
felony for subsequent violations. Immigrants who are caught illegally trespassing U.S. territory are fingerprinted and immediately returned, unless they are a repeat offender, in which case they may be criminally prosecuted. The
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) made the hiring of an illegal alien an offense for the first time. American businesses hire well over 10 million illegal aliens per year.
A 2005 Pew Hispanic Center survey on attitudes toward immigration, conducted in part in Mexico, found that an estimated 70 million adults in Mexico would come to the U.S. if they had the means and the opportunity.
About half of those said they would be willing to move to and work in this country illegally. The study also found that 35% of Mexican college graduates want to come to the U.S., even if that means they would have to work at a job below their qualifications — and many also said they'd be willing to come illegallyImmigrant-rights groups will have to acknowledge that an unchecked flow of unskilled labor drives [over a million a year] down wages for entry-level jobs, rendering all poor Americans, including millions of teenage workers, less competitive. The reality is that most Americans won't do entry-level labor for the meager wages often offered to undocumented workers.
Those of us in Cincinnati Change who are Americans who came to America by slavery, have paid the dues, not the over 11 million illegals who broke the laws of this country and the over 5 million children they have had in America. We acknowledge that they have rights as human beings and believe that they should exercise those rights in their own country. On the other hand, in our country we should have a plan if they don't want to leave America.
Cincinnati Change Chairman Fred Hargrove Sr. said: "Our nation’s immigration policy must be consistent with humanitarian values that take in consideration the needs of America’s disadvanted and with the need to treat all individuals with respect and dignity who obey our laws. We must move away from the politics of ostracizing immigrants and instead look at how we can work to meet the needs of our nation"
Cincinnati Change is calling for Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform with a focus on the enforcement approach in which the United States immigration policies must be consistent with our humanitarian values as expressed in our laws. As public policy, such legislation must address genuine immigration reform that should include proposals that would allow people to earn the right of citizenship through hard work, the commitment of several years, learning english and meeting several security and related requirements.
As part of Immigration Legislation also propose a monetary solution whereas they will pay the United States $250 Billion Dollars over the next 5 years to be used in those areas with the most unemployed Americans. This money would be used to address the larger economic needs of the nation such as the creation of job training programs and small business programs, as well as federal education assistance to those in areas already identified as in need of help through HUD so that all Americans can have enhanced opportunities.
When this is on the table, then we will look to create an alliance with these people. If not then what global solidarity to us have they shown? Are they going to align with the needs of a America at war, no matter how we got there?
We also feel employers employing those who break the immigration law should be prosecuted as should public officials and religious leaders who aid them.
The Nubian Oracle
Today, we sadly find ourselves at the very point in Iraq I feared most when I opposed giving the President the open-ended authority to wage this war in 2002 – an occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences in the midst of a country torn by civil war. 
