In the midst of tough economic times and high unemployment, tens of thousands of migrants were arriving in the United States, most of them in California. Gov. Jerry Brown expressed deep reservations about the impact that this mass influx would have on the people of his state. “We can’t be looking 5,000 miles away and at the same time neglecting people who live here.” He tried to prevent plane loads of migrants from landing at Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento, and attempted to prevent any institutions in California from assisting the migrants.
Ralph Nader was even blunter in his assessment, charging that the government was willfully ignoring the possible public health risks of such and influx.
Joe Biden was also angry, particularly because migration crisis was a direct result of government policies. “[T]he Administration had not informed Congress adequately about the number of refugees,” Biden charged.
No, this is not a belated April Fools’ joke. These are the actual words of three of the nation’s most vociferous boosters of mass immigration. The year was 1975, not 2015. The administration orchestrating the mass influx of migrants was not the Obama administration, but the Ford administration. The migrants were not from Central America, but from Vietnam as the war came to an end and the U.S.-supported government in the South collapsed.
Whether we should or should not have resettled hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese in the U.S. 40 years ago is no longer a relevant question, although at least one prominent liberal of that day, Sen. George McGovern (D-S.D.), said frankly, “I think the Vietnamese are better off in Vietnam.” What is instructive is that consideration of the public interest figured prominently in the debate about how to nation should respond to mass migration.
It’s a shame that public-minded political leaders like Jerry Brown and Joe Biden are no longer around to make sure that the interests and concerns of the American people are given at least equal consideration with those of those seeking to settle in the U.S.
Read Ira’s other blog There’s Still More California Can Do for Illegal Aliens?
3 Comments
The cure for a lot of these problems is term limits. I see it at the local and state levels. Someone gets elected and they make an effort to represent their constituents for the first couple of terms. Then seniority kicks in and the emphasis goes to acquiring more and more power with less effort on representation. At the federal level every congressman and senator knows that delivering a little pork back home allows him/her to be reelected. It is tough to defeat an incumbent, name recognition alone is a great benefit. Power is a great intoxicant, I remember Senator Paul Wellstone saying he would be a Senator for a maximum of two terms. Well even the principled Wellstone was running for his third term when he died in a plane crash.
We need term limits because once on the power merry-go-round of Washington most people are incapable of stopping on their own. Look at the latest example courtesy of New Jersey, plush Paris hotel with comfort workers provided.
These politicians don’t give one damn about what’s good for this country. Just like Harry Reid was for outlawing birthright citizenship until the demographics in Nevada “changed”, mostly due to illegal immigration and then he had his come to Jesus moment. Brown, Reid, Biden and many others reversed themselves when they realized that they could gain more votes by changing. They’re all for sale.
What a Difference in Democrats Not Paid Off by Foreign/Corporate Lobbyists Campaign Funds
They become normal Americans again.