January 17th was the three hundredth anniversary of Benjamin Franklin’s birth.

While there are many things Franklin is remembered for, (author , inventor, Founding Father) he’s remembered here at Vdare.com as an early immigration skeptic.

The issue in the mid-eighteenth century was German immigration, (and the German language.) Germans made up 33 percent of the population of Pennsylvania at one point. Oh, and they were competing with Franklin in the printing trade.

Here’s what Peter Brimelow wrote in 1992:

For example, it is conventional to dismiss all concerns about immigration with the argument that such fears have proved groundless in the past. Of course, this is illogical. Just because a danger has been averted in the past does not mean it cannot happen in the future. Many passengers might have climbed aboard the lifeboat safely; one more may still capsize it.

But in fact these concerns, which have been expressed by the most eminent Americans going right back to colonial times, were perfectly reasonable. They were rendered moot only by changing circumstances. Thus Benjamin Franklin worried about German immigration in 1751: “Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them… ?” Franklin was not proved wrong: instead, German immigration was halted—in the short run, by the Seven Years’ War (1756-63); in the longer run, by the post-Revolution Great Lull.

Occasionally I’ll just do a Google search for “nativists” or “xenophobes

” in the news, to see what’s up in the world of pro-immigration punditry.

The latest is this one by Tina Griego [send her mail] in the Rocky Mountain News Let’s be sensible about illegal immigration which would have been found by both terms:

Either that or we can engage in the utterly pointless exercise of swapping good Mexican/bad Mexican anecdotes and contradictory cost/benefit studies and I could amuse myself by counting the number of times the letters to the editor contain the word “hordes” and “illegal invasion” followed by “but I’m not a racist/nativist/xenophobe.”

Considering that there are between twelve and twenty million illegals in the United States, I’d say “hordes” and “illegal invasion” were fairly reasonable.

Her idea of “Let’s be sensible” seems to be some kind of mild border protection, some kind of mild employer sanctions, but not deportation, which is the obvious and sensible answer to the problem.

Here’s what she’s not interested in

So, here’s what we’re not going to talk about today: assimilation and the “curse” of multiculturalism. I don’t want to hear about Spanish-speaking food service workers and laundry drying on chain-link fences and parties that are too loud in houses that are too crowded. I don’t want to hear about the need for a common society with shared community values, the umbrella under which all these complaints fall.

Well, that’s what we’re here for. We didn’t expect those issues to get much of an airing in the Rocky Mountain News, anyway.

Remember that disgusting website I wrote about last week? The “We Are Racists” racket sponsored by LULAC? [story here]

Perhaps somebody gave them a copy of How to Make Friends and Influence People but it seems the powers that be over at LULAC decided that their latest project was achieving the opposite effect.

The website that once carried pictures of various Minutemen (or any American who dares to protest the Reconquista) now displays this message:

“Due to the threats of violence we have received from the
anti-immigrant movement who refuse to
reveal their identity,
we are disabling this site!”
[Website here]

Huh…is it horrible to say that I hope that is the real reason? That Americans are finally fed up and fighting back?

I’ll keep my fingers crossed!

A recent column in the American Spectator about pro bono legal efforts to help a murderer escape justice brings up a question: why is it pro bono publico to help someone get away with murder?

But even if one granted a theoretical “public good” in helping to make sure that justice is done to accused American citizens, it wouldn’t apply to the Treason Lobby’s free (or worse, taxpayer subsidized) legal assistance to people who aren’t part of the the American public at all.

Perhaps they should call this kind of advocacy “Pro Bono Mexico.”

Quiz time. What happens when the State Deparment imports thousands of Hmong who have lived for decades in Thai refugee camps, speak no English, bring a passle of kids and have no job skills?

Answer: Eventual homelessness for some, as documented in “The Last Place on Earth.”

A Catholic-affiliated homeless shelter in Hminneapolis, Mary’s Place, has 221 Hmong residents who couldn’t line up adequate welfare benefits, er, find enough work.

Nearly 5,000 Hmong have been dumped on Minnesota in the last couple years, thanks to Mayor Randy Kelly’s hmeddling, in collusion with local Hmong and Washington bureaucrats. In settlement projects of previous decades, Hmong refugees were placed in public housing, but now the waiting lists are so long in Hminneapolis and St. Paul that no additional names are taken.

Deep into the article, the housing shortage is called “eminently predictable.”

“We knew going in that probably the biggest difficulty that was going to face the new arrivals was housing,” says Ramsey County’s Anderson. “There’s no subsidies available and there’s no public housing available.”

Well, we wouldn’t expect our public officials to plan and work for the public good, now would we? At least Hmayor Kelly got his diversity kicked at the polls.

As usual, the clear-eyed realists at Vdare.com warned of the foreseeable hmisfortune.

Last June, Home Depot approached the Burbank City Council with plans to build a new facility.

The city of Burbank was concerned that a new store would attract more day laborers who generally gather in front of home improvement stores hoping to pick up work from local contractors. To address this concern, the Burbank City Council asked Home Depot to build a day laborer center across the street as a condition of their permit approval.

They also demanded that Home Depot pick up the $94,000 annual cost of running the center–last week, the Burbank City Council awarded the contract for managing the center to Catholic Charities of Los Angeles. [My column on Saturday discusses another pet project of Catholic Charities...EL Concilio...must see TV, folks.]

See also: Brenda Walker’s column last week for more info on the Catholic Church (here).

Save Our State [website] will be protesting the aiding and abetting of illegal aliens by Home Depot and the city of Burbank.

The details:

Saturday, January 21st
8am - 11am
1125 South Flower
Burbank, CA

If you’re available, this should be a good one. Personally, I consider protesting Home Depot something like a hobby so I will definitely try to be there!

Burbank City Council:

Jef Vander Borght, Mayor [email him]

Todd Campbell, Vice Mayor [email him]

Dave Golonski, Council Member [email him]

Marsha Ramos, Council Member [email her]