A day after the WSJ had Victor Davis Hanson calling for border enforcement, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which for years has been WSJ Lite on the immigration issue (as D. A. King has often reminded us) published this unabashedly pro-American op-ed:

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1996 makes it a felony to re-enter the United States after having been apprehended and removed, a description that fits a very large percentage of the millions of illegal aliens presently demanding the rights of citizens because they were able to make it past our Border Patrol.

Existing law makes it a felony to employ, assist, shelter, transport or commercially profit from illegal aliens, or to encourage an illegal alien to remain in the United States. The recently approved House bill does not change that politically incorrect fact. [Welcome new border law; enforce existing ones , January 3, 2006](Registration required, passwords available at Bugmenot.com.)

Who is this amazing new voice on the AJC’s opinion page? Believe it or not, it’s D. A. King! You can congratulate him, and you can follow his lead by submitting your own views on illegal immigration to your own local paper. Don’t give up if they ignore you at first, the AJC tried that, but D. A. King wouldn’t quit.

Via Kathy Shaidle I see this note on the link between poverty and crime.

“We associate crime with poverty because criminals are so often poor. However, the association is an inversion — people don’t become drug-addicted thieves because they’re poor– they’re poor because they’re drug-addicted thieves. “

It’s even simpler than that. I can explain the link between poverty and crime in three short words: Crime Doesn’t Pay.

In March of last year, the Atlantic published a list of major security fences around the world. This is part of the trend that Colby Cosh called the New Muralism, inspired by Israel building a fence to keep out Palestinian terrorists.

Of course, outside North America, most land borders are guarded by some kind of fence. That’s why, when Victor Davis Hanson was allowed to write recently against immigration in the Wall Street Journal, (a very rare occurrence) it was strange to see him refer to the “Great Wall Of America” as a “retrograde” and “seemingly absurd” solution, when obviously what it is is forward-looking and modern. [Mi Casa Es Su Casa | America's porous border enables Mexico's misrule, By Victor Davis Hanson, January 1, 2006 ]

Oh, and speaking of retrograde…is the WSJ, having engaged in “balance,” going to come back with a smashing Open Borders counterattack, or are they going to reverse their previous course and say “There Shall Not Be Open Borders; We Were Wrong.”

The list of fences is below, and it’s amazing to consider all the third-world oligarchies that are doing a better job of protecting their countries from, say, Yemenis, than the Bush administration .

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Logical Meme has posted a lucid essay on the state of the Birthright Citizenship controversy, pointing out that America’s continued blunder in this area is now completely anomalous set against the policies of, for instance, the EU countries. VDARE.com has long had an interest in this question, the jugular of the effort to transform the American Nation. Over four years have passed since we published Howard Sutherland’s Weigh Anchor! discussion of the peculiar history of this devastatingly irresponsible bit of judicial legislation. At the time the issue was little known and undiscussed. This may prove to have been VDARE.com’s most influential posting.

Logical Meme concludes with a particularly juicy quote from Michele Waslin of the National Council of La Raza (which of course opposes reform):

“It’s an issue that we are very concerned about…This was always seen in the past as some extreme, wacko proposal that never goes anywhere….But these so-called wacko proposals are becoming more and more mainstream—it’s becoming more acceptable to have a discussion about it.”

Adding

You’re right on that last point, Ms Waslin.

VDARE.com adds: email Michelle Waslin.

(Another valuable Logical Meme posting was a couple of days earlier: Springfield MA’s 15 Minutes of Fame amplifying from the perspective of a resident on the recent New York Times story on the problems caused there by the failings of the town’s Somali immigrants. This has also been a long standing VDARE.com interest.)