Thursday, May 18, 2006

The Dragon In The Room

-/-

OK, I was going to save this until I had a bit more information to work with, but now seems a good time, and I always like a good teaser.

We're hearing a lot right now about illegals, and for most people the image that conjures up is a young, uneducated Hispanic. Right?

OK, just to poke the grey matter a little bit, do you know, do you have any idea at all, how many Asians are illegally here in the United States right now? What about just Chinese?

A fence from Texas to California is not nearly going to solve this, folks. And some of the people making the most noise, well, I don't see them doing all that much thinking.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

DJ - WILLisms has an answer. WScroll down to "Trivia Tidbit Of The Day: Part 334 -- Immigration." Looks like 9% come from Asia.

www.willisms.com/

-- Big Mo

Anonymous said...

There are also a few hundred thousand Irish illegals...

Anonymous said...

My guess is that there could be at least 1 million Asians here illegally. The difference is that many of the Asians here illegally may also qualify for some type of political aslyum. If these people were sent back to their home country they might be imprisoned or sent to re-education camps. I'm willing look more favorably upon those illegal immigrants who escaped communism to be in the U.S., versus those from a politically corrupt country (Mexico) that use illegal immigration into the US as a means for reducing/exporting the poverty within their country.

nk said...

Yes. You're right. Many of them actual (not virtual) slaves. In forced prostitution. Africans and Eastern Europeans too. Brought in in shipping containers. But in my mind that just points out more how worthless we are in not just enforcing but in simply having a rational immigration policy.

Anonymous said...

A bit off topic: when I went to my wife's naturalization ceremony in 1986 (she was a legal alien who became a citizen then) I was amazed at the breakdown of the immigrants.

A large number were Canadian, and a very large number were Vietnamese.

Of course, the composition of legal immigrants is probably very different from that of illegals, but I thought I'd put in my two cents.

After the group swearing in they played the Star Spangled Banner & I'm telling you, there wasn't a dry eye in the house...

Anonymous said...

I think all these illegal immigrants share a common characteristic. No one knows how many there are, because they're flying under the radar screen, i.e., they really are "undocumented" (don't you hate that word?). I'd bet very heavy money that there many more of the Asian kind that people realize; for a very long time smuggling of these people has been a big business in the Far East, and I suppose it's still going on. Ships supposedly drop them off just off the coast. So that fence everyone wants and troops on the Mexican border ain't gonna do a thing for this problem (which I'm guessing is DJ's point)

Anonymous said...

Almost all of the illegals here in New Orleans are Mexican; a handful are from Honduras and a few other countries.

My wife can tell from their accents whether they're from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador or wherever, whereas I can't even begin to make this kind of differentiation.

Anonymous said...

DJ ...so glad to find you. Took a day or two, but knew you would surface.

I'm so sorry about your loss. Your Dad was in your heart...and will stay there.

I'll be coming to your site regularly because I know that you are a thinker...and that you have true intellectual class.

Thanks for keeping up the good work.

By the way...you would be great on any group blog...AND...you have enough talent to go it alone.

I'll support you either way.

Dallas

Anonymous said...

On his show today, Michael Medved pointed out that 1/3 of the illegals in this country today entered legally -- as tourists, students, or whatever -- and overstayed their visas. My bet is that most Asians fall into that category.

So a border fence will only cut down the number of illegals in the country, not eliminate them. If you want to get rid of the alligators you have to drain the swamp. If you want to get rid of illegals you have to drain the economic incentive to come here illegally. That is the secret.

Anonymous said...

Many people get away with murder, theft, and a host of crimes. Does this mean we stop enforcing those laws on John because we suspect Jim did not get caught? I would certainly hope not.

W.C. Varones said...

Your Bush Administration Justice Department in Action."

Oh, yeah, he takes border security seriously.

DJ Drummond said...

From that article referenced by Mr. Varones:
"Judges and federal attorneys are so swamped that only the most egregious smuggling cases are prosecuted ... Some were instead prosecuted for another crime. Other cases were declined by federal prosecutors, or the suspect was released by the Border Patrol."

So, is President Bush at fault for

A - not micromanaging the caseloads of individual prosecutors;

B - the successful prosecution of more substantial cases than illegal entry (which I would actually call a 'good thing'); or

C - not micromanaging the actions of individual Border Patrol agents?

Thanks Varones, you guys continue to prove my point.

W.C. Varones said...

How about

D - not making border security and enforcement a priority in the Justice Department

???

Anonymous said...

Lots of Asians...

Some kept us from having a rational conversation about illegals. When they got stuck on the "law" and the requirement that they must all therefore leave before we even started.....it made idiots of us all.

I still can not believe I have read what I have about President Bush at some of these sites. Unbelievable. It's as if he jumped out of Kos with a tail. Unbelievable. They would paint someone like me as wanting 'open borders'. No way. I wanted to fix as much as humanly possible, considering this problem has been several decades and from many countries.

W.C. Varones said...

At least we can say of President Bush that he's a uniter, not a divider.

He's uniting the country behind the Democrats.

Linda Fox said...

Yeah, but you can ask Asians who speak little English for their documentation without setting off the "racist" drumbeats.