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August 15, 2007

Transatlantic Chutzpah - Defined

Topics: Immigration and Border Issues

Soeren Kern noted in his piece at The Brussels Journal back on August 6 that Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero deserves a special award for transatlantic chutzpah for his "sterling example of post-modern pontification for which Spanish leftists are so famous. It seems that Zapatero just couldn't resist a chance to be critical of U.S. immigration policies while ignoring his own immigration issues.

During his recent visit to Mexico, he ended the state dinner held in his honor by toasting Mexican President Felipe Calderón with a sterling example of post-modern pontification for which Spanish leftists are so famous: "There is no wall that can obstruct the dream of a better life," Zapatero proclaimed.

The "wall" that Zapatero is so worried about is, of course, the anti-illegal immigrant fence that, if everything goes as planned, will one day run along one-third of the 2,000 mile (3,200 km) border between Mexico and the United States... and not the twin razor wire-topped fences that separate the Spain's north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla from those people in Morocco and the rest of Africa who have dreams of a better life in Spain.

It could be that Zapatero was just trying to divert attention away from a damning report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch that accuses Spanish authorities of mistreating and neglecting hundreds of migrant African children at holding centers on the Canary Islands. Or perhaps he was still fuming that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during her recent six-hour stopover in Madrid, did not extend the long-awaited invitation for Zapatero to visit the White House.

Whatever the case may be, the fact remains that the United States and Europe are facing many of the same challenges on the issue of immigration. But for a variety of cultural, historical and structural factors, the United States seems to do a far better job with immigration than does Europe.

Continue reading: Europe's Immigration Superiority Complex

As Kern points out in the article, in Europe, many or most immigrants to the continent end up on welfare, while in the United States, almost all immigrants take one or more entry-level jobs and work their way up the economic ladder. Welfare is simply not the American way.

The result is that most immigrants to the United States, a country with no dominant ethnic group, are fully integrated into American society by the second generation, regardless of their country of origin. By contrast, most immigrants to Europe, where countries are built around a population base with a common ethnicity, are Muslims who are not easily integrated, no matter how long they have been living on the continent.

"Twin razor wire-topped fences"? Now why haven't we in the U.S. thought of that?

Posted by Richard at August 15, 2007 11:36 AM

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