Lou Barletta, Once Again
Back in 2006 when this-here blog was still new, I told you about Lou Barletta, then-mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania who hated Hispanic illegal immigrants so much, he proposed requiring everybody in Hazleton buy a license from City Hall before they'd be allowed to rent a place to live. This, he thought, would defend American freedom from the rampaging Mexican hordes.
Now Barletta is a Congressman but still opposed not merely to illegal immigration, but Latino immigration altogether. Here's why:
My own grandparents were low-skilled and probably didn't have a high school diploma, when they first arrived here from eastern Europe. Nativist Americans back then worried about immigrants ruining America--immigrants like my grandparents and Lou Barletta's Italian-immigrant ancestors.
Now Barletta is a Congressman but still opposed not merely to illegal immigration, but Latino immigration altogether. Here's why:
“Anyone who believes that they’re going to win over the Latino vote is grossly mistaken,” Barletta said. “The majority that are here illegally are low-skilled or may not even have a high school diploma. The Republican Party is not going to compete over who can give more social programs out. They will become Democrats because of the social programs they’ll depend on.”
My own grandparents were low-skilled and probably didn't have a high school diploma, when they first arrived here from eastern Europe. Nativist Americans back then worried about immigrants ruining America--immigrants like my grandparents and Lou Barletta's Italian-immigrant ancestors.
posted by Jennifer Abel at 11:31 PM
6 Comments:
So your grandparents were immigrants, and now here you are, and there's no way you'll vote for Lou Barletta. I think you just proved his point.
Windypundit - I fail to see the connection.
Charles, Some people who complain about immigrants like to dress it up in a policy statement about jobs, culture, or the economy. Barletta's whole complaint about immigrants, on the other hand, is a shallow political whine that immigrants won't vote for people like him. I'm sure he's right about that, and Jennifer's post supports my conclusion.
Oh. I would have said that Lou proved Jennifer's point. I don't think Lou has a point, except maybe on the top of his head.
The difference between immigrants who came over to this country back in the day via Ellis Island versus the immigrants today is that the former acclimated - they learned English, developed skill sets and made something of themselves. Today's new immigrants sneak over the border, refuse to learn English, then demand/protest for a free ride. You may disagree with Barletta's politics but there is no mistaking the problem he's trying to solve.
Actually, POB, the previous waves of immigrants did NOT acclimate; only their descendants did. The bigots who opposed earlier immigrants cited the same bullshit arguments as does Barletta--they didn't know English, they didn't have American values ... actually, where the likes of Barletta are concerned, they were right. Barletta does NOT have American values.
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