America’s editors and news directors voted on the year’s top ten list of most important stories, with the terrible campus murders at Virginia Tech getting the top slot. Also noted (with insufficient enthusiasm) was the amazing grassroots victory against of Bush’s amnesty monstrosity.

1. VIRGINIA TECH KILLINGS: Seung-Hui Cho, 23, who had avoided court-ordered mental health treatment despite a history of psychiatric problems, killed two fellow students in a dormitory on April 16, detoured to mail a hate-filled video of himself to NBC News, then shot dead 30 students and professors in a classroom building before killing himself. It was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

9. IMMIGRATION DEBATE: A compromise immigration plan, backed by President Bush and Democratic leaders, collapsed in Congress due to Republican opposition. The plan would have enabled millions of illegal immigrants to move toward citizenship, while also bolstering border security. The issues remained alive in the presidential campaign.
[Virginia Tech Massacre Voted Top Story , San Francisco Chronicle, Dec 28, 2007]

Of course, VDARE.com readers know full well that the Virginia Tech mass murder was absolutely about immigration: the shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, was a Korean legal immigrant with severe assimilation problems, who expressed his fury about being unable to adjust socially in the most horrific way.

The Virginia Tech case additionally showed just how politically correct the educational establishment has become. Cho was a psychologically disturbed and dangerous young man, but no teacher or administrator was willing to insist that he be held to account for criminal actions like stalking co-eds. He was cut far more slack than an American kid would have been for similar behavior, apparently out of misplaced tolerance toward an immigrant.

This is from Florida, and is fairly typical. Illegal immigrants aren’t supposed to like enforcement, and neither are their employers. Sorry about that!

Undocumented workers bemoan U.S. crackdown - 12/29/2007 - MiamiHerald.com
BY ALFONSO CHARDY AND HELENA POLEO, December 29, 2007

For thousands of South Florida’s illegal immigrants, the new year offers more uncertainty, discontent and, for many, resigned departure.

From farms in Homestead to day laborer pickup sites in Florida City and Fort Lauderdale, migrant workers are struggling to find work as Homeland Security steps up enforcement after a firestorm of public opinion derailed an immigration overhaul in Congress. That proposal, which failed in the summer, would have eventually legalized millions of undocumented workers.

Adding to the turmoil: a slowing economy.

More than two dozen South Florida employers and undocumented workers interviewed by The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald said they worry about tough times ahead. Evidence suggests immigrants are sending less money back to their families in Latin America and the Caribbean.

At Global Money Express in Little Havana, money transfers have dropped by a third in the past few weeks.

”This season is usually the one with the most remittances, but the flow has gone down,” Global manager Roberto Carlos Tejeda said, adding that similar declines occurred at two other branches near downtown Miami and Little Havana, where many Central American immigrants live.

Several immigrants without work papers are seeing job opportunities dry up and said they’re thinking of packing up and leaving employers who count on their cheap labor and seasonal work.

”The raids that have happened during the summer and early fall are a concern,” said Larry Dunagan, a pole bean farmer in Homestead. Dunagan said labor shortages are possible if the crackdown intensifies.

”There will be a tremendous demand on labor, and a shortage is a concern because we deal with a perishable product,” he added.

So the beans could be rotting in the fields if Mr. Dunagan doesn’t raise his wages. There already is an  H-2A program, which will allow farmers willing to take responsibility for their workers to import them temporarily and then send them home, [PDF] but most farmers would prefer to hire from a pool of illegal labor that’s just hanging around. The problem is that those illegals, just hanging around, are causing problems for everyone, whereas the farmers are the only ones who benefit.

Someone asked me if the recent outbreak of listeria in Massachusetts, where two people died from tainted milk, involved immigration. The answer is, apparently not. A similar outbreak in North Carolina did involve immigrants:

Listeria Warning Issued in North Carolina Following Three Confirmed Cases of Listeriosis

Date Published: Thursday, December 27th, 2007

A Listeria outbreak has prompted a warning from North Carolina public health officials. Following at least three cases of listeriosis in North Carolina, the North Carolina Division of Public Health is cautioning pregnant women to avoid eating soft cheeses, hot dogs and deli-style meats, and prepared salads. The Listeria cases were identified in Moore, Durham, and Mecklenburg counties; a probable case was identified in Buncombe County. All three confirmed listeriosis cases involved Latinas; two were pregnant women whose pregnancies ended in miscarriage. The third Listeria case also involved a pregnant woman; she delivered early but she and her baby are doing well. The probable listeriosis case involves another pregnant Latina who also lost her baby. All four women consumed soft cheeses from a variety of sources.

The problem, as I’ve said before, is that Third World immigrants don’t understand the germ theory of disease, and may refuse to believe it even if we teach it to them. This is from the Centers for Disease Control, Immigrant and Border Infectious Disease Concerns for Women, November 2004

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices among Immigrant Hispanic Women Regarding Consumption of High-Risk Foods

Hispanic/Latino immigrants are at high risk for listeriosis, a disease that can cause severe pregnancy complications, including miscarriage, stillbirth, uterine infection, premature labor, and death in the newborn period. The goal of CDC’s Futura Mama program is to assess community attitudes and knowledge about unpasteurized milk products (a common vehicle for listeriosis) and use this information to develop culturally sensitive disease prevention strategies. Eight focus groups were conducted in a Hispanic/Latino immigrant community in Georgia. Most participants reported regular consumption of homemade cheese and thought that unpasteurized milk and milk products are healthier and tastier than store-bought products. None of the participants were aware of listeriosis, of other infections related to unpasteurized milk products, or of the association between infection and pregnancy complications. Women <32 years of age were more likely than those >32 years to accept the idea that health risks are associated with unpasteurized milk products. The study concluded that public health messages delivered through in-person formats (workshops and discussion groups) and mass media may be effective in reducing the risk of listeriosis in Hispanic/Latino communities.[Emphasis added]

And this is where the restaurant and hotel industry insists on hiring its cheap labor.