Got Immigration? The World’s Best Damn Blog About U.S. Immigration

I just read that the new House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) appointed California Rep. Elton Gallegly (R) to lead the House Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement.  Since this is the House subcommittee most directly responsible for immigration issues, the question of just who this Elton Gallegly guy is becomes pretty important to all of us immigration-watchers.  It turns out that Rep. Gallegly is considered one of the top 10 immigration hawks in Congress.  He has a record of being far to the right on pretty much every immigration issue of the past two decades, and his legislative goals for this Congress include a repeal of birthright citizenship, reducing legal immigration by eliminating two of the family preference categories and visas for unskilled workers, mandating the use of E-verify, and making English the official language of the United States.  Oh Lordy.  That’s all I can really say for this character.  I’m sorry, but I can’t take anyone that wants to repeal birthright citizenship seriously on any level – intellectually, as a decent human being,  or otherwise.  Rep. Gallegly represents Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in California, which are overwhelmingly Caucasian but have sizable Latino minorities.  I suppose he feels safe taking such extremist positions on immigration issues, but I hope that someone, somewhere in his district educates him a little on the importance of the 14th Amendment and why the 1st Amendment makes English-only laws just a tad unconstitutional.  Hmmm…maybe I should be the one helping Rep. Gallegly out?  I think I’ll do just that – stay tuned for upcoming posts on both of the above issues.

Happy 2011 to all my readers!  Start your new year off with this interesting article I found about what the absence of smart immigration policy is doing to Japan right now.  Although the United States is nowhere near as obtuse as Japan when it comes to immigration, the lessons from Japan’s failure to implement effective and targeted immigration reform should serve as a warning to any country that lets domestic short-sightedness stand in the way of long-term economic and social interests.