The Left’s Switcheroo on Immigration

Posted by Tina

High praise for journalist Peter Beinart for stepping up to expose the hard left’s shifty switch on imigration over the last decade or so. The shift was definitely a political calculation. The state of the country and the well being of the American people took a back seat to designs for permanent political power. He begins his piece outing those who trumpeted the switch and the man who would become the future leader of the Party:

In 2005, a left-leaning blogger wrote, “Illegal immigration wreaks havoc economically, socially, and culturally; makes a mockery of the rule of law; and is disgraceful just on basic fairness grounds alone.” In 2006, a liberal columnist wrote that “immigration reduces the wages of domestic workers who compete with immigrants” and that “the fiscal burden of low-wage immigrants is also pretty clear.” His conclusion: “We’ll need to reduce the inflow of low-skill immigrants.” That same year, a Democratic senator wrote, “When I see Mexican flags waved at proimmigration demonstrations, I sometimes feel a flush of patriotic resentment. When I’m forced to use a translator to communicate with the guy fixing my car, I feel a certain frustration.”

The blogger was Glenn Greenwald. The columnist was Paul Krugman. The senator was Barack Obama.

In 2005 and 2006 most liberals still identified as Americans with a strong sense of national pride (at least they said they did). Only a few years later they were labeling people on the right as racist for holding the same views.

Is it any wonder the legislative body cannot come to grips with the failing elements of our immigration laws? When politicians put power over duty, when they position and pander for power, when they bend to special interest voices for money and votes, when they become this detached and arrogant, the American people lose.

I always appreciate it when journalists take look back It’s impossible to recall every position every politician has taken over the years. This shift represents a losing sea change, an error in reading the will of the people. Beinart’s article reads like it’s intended to be instructive to the Democrat Party. Though I disagree with some of his assumptions, I agree that the Democrats should seriously consider (authentic) realignment with the American people.