Democratic Immigration Ad Suggestions

Michael Sean Winters has suggestions on TNR online about ads Democrats ought to be running with regard to immigration. Effectively what he calls for is famous immigrants (athletes, entertainers) reciting bible passages supportive of ideas of brotherhood and embracing outsiders. I agree -- I'm shocked and appalled by the xenophobic anti-immigration rhetoric, especially when all of it comes from people who, at one point or another in their family history, were immigrants. I don't precisely advocate an open door policy, though given a choice between a fully open door and a sealed one, I'll take the open doors and trust America's ability to adapt.

One of the most shocking aspects of this whole debate is that the very people most inclined to play the jingoism card also want to close off opportunities to those who might be listening. That is, when people get up and bombastically proclaim America's greatness, how can they be appalled that people want to share in that greatness? (Also, I'm curious: Tancredo -- what tribe is that? Sioux? Cherokee? Because there is no way he could actually be Italian-American and yet say the things he says about immigrants. Is there? And I'm pretty certain that "Dobbs" isn't an old Seminole name.) One of the great embarassments of America's long history with immigration is that groups always tend to want to lock the door behind them as soon as their wave of immigration crests.

While I've always generally supported open borders, living in Texas has made me more ardent about these issues. My girlfriend is Mexican-American, albeit at least a few generations removed from the immigrant experience. One of my colleagues is the son of "illegals" who worked hard to provide for his family in California by picking grapes. Many of my students are first- or second-generation immigrants. Furthermore, the racism inherent in the politics of anti-immigration are such that American citizens, people who have been here for decades, in many cases longer than almost any immigrant group in the US, have to hear the same old racist bromides from people incalculably stupid and cruel. Immigration is the very source of American greatness. Perhaps Mr. Tancredo never learned this at tribal pow-wows.