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Gazing Into Immigration's Mirror Lowell Ponte With the opportunity to get rich by their own country's standards, immigrants swarmed across the border in far larger numbers than the law allowed.
These migrants brought their own culture and language, and quickly began thumbing their noses at their new nation's laws and customs. This flood of newcomers, many of them illegal, soon outnumbered those who invited them to come. They began to look and act like a conquering army of invaders.
This description is not solely of Latino illegals pouring into the United States in 2006.
Story Continues Below It also describes the Mexican colony of Tejas, which in 1821 invited Moses Austin and, after his death, his son Stephen F. Austin to bring 300 families of American settlers. Mexico's only requirements were that these families be moral, be or become Roman Catholics and agree to abide by Mexican laws.
"What followed was an enormous influx into Texas," wrote historian Carlos Freymann. "The land was almost free – 10 cents per acre. By comparison, in the then-expanding U.S. territories, an acre of land of lesser quality sold for $1.25 per acre. Furthermore, each male over 21 years of age could acquire 640 acres for himself in Texas and, additionally, half of that amount for his wife, plus 160 acres for each child, and 80 for each slave of his household. The U.S. colonists did not have to pay taxes to Mexico for seven years!"
These ingrate "Americano Texians," as they called themselves, quickly became the majority, continued to speak English and refused to assimilate into Mexican culture. When Mexico outlawed slavery, many of the American immigrants, who came mostly from Dixie, refused to free their slaves.
In 1836, Mexico lost Texas in a war with the immigrants it had welcomed. Texas for almost a decade became its own independent nation, diplomatically recognized by Belgium and other powers, before it became one of the United States in December 1845.
In 1861 Texas reasserted its independence, seceded from the United States and became one of the Confederate States of America. After the Confederacy's defeat, Union Army-occupied Texas was re-admitted to the United States in 1870.
One recent Texas governor grew up amid dusty panhandle oilfields speaking English, Spanish and their hybrid tongue, Spanglish. George W. Bush is now president of the United States. His brother Jeb wed a lovely Mexican girl, converted to Roman Catholicism, and is the elected governor of Florida; their children are bilingual Mexican-Americans.
In 1846, the Mexican-American War cost Mexico California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. U.S. Marines occupied the Halls of Montezuma in Mexico City but did not stay.
Today Dr. Charles Truxillo at the University of New Mexico wants to create "Republica del Norte," a new Hispanic nation, by secession from the U.S.
Twelve to 20 million Latino illegal aliens already live in the United States. If the U.S. Senate's version of immigration reform becomes law, as many as 66 million more could move here legally over the next 20 years, according to Dr. Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation.
Some Latino radicals see this rising Hispanic tide as a new Reconquista, as Roman Catholic Spaniards called their retaking of Spain after 800 years of occupation by Muslim Moors from North Africa. The cultural adviser to Mexico's leftist candidate in the July 2 presidential election openly advocates the re-conquest of the U.S. Southwest, as have radical Hispanic activist groups such as MEChA.
Joaquin Avila of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center in Los Angeles in December 2003 proposed that America's growing population of non-citizens should be allowed to vote, at least in local elections. In California, he wrote, 12 cities have a majority of residents who are non-citizens. Eighty-five California cities and towns have populations that are at least 25 percent non-citizen. It is "political apartheid," wrote Avila, to deny these people a vote in how "their communities" are run.
Democratic congressional candidate Francine Busby in Tuesday's San Diego election to replace disgraced Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham apparently agrees. Last Thursday she was recorded telling a Hispanic gathering (from which she had excluded all English-speaking media): "You don't need papers for voting, and you don't need to be a registered voter to help. ... I can't bring people to vote for me. Only you can do that."
While Mexicans stream north seeking work, Americans are now pouring south into Baja California. These gringos are happy to retire where winters are warm, living is cheap, fish tacos and Dos Equis beer are staple foods, problems are put off until manana, and a luxury beach house until recently cost as little as $20,000.
This "Baja Land Rush" has already lured more than 100,000 Americans south of the Border. It began in 1997, when Mexico changed its law requiring all land within 100 kilometers of the coast to be owned by Mexican citizens. Such land may now be owned by foreigners through locally administered land trusts in which a Mexican bank acts as trustee and a foreigner is its beneficiary.
During the Mexican-American War, American troops occupied parts of Baja California. It was among the bargaining chips Mexico got back for agreeing to relinquish greener lands to the north.
Now, say some Mexican critics, Americans are annexing Baja California with dollars. These gringo immigrants are again taking over a big hunk of Mexico, just as they did in Tejas long ago. But powerful political forces in Mexico's Districo Federal and our District of Columbia keep American retirees and their money flowing south – and young illegal Mexican immigrants flowing north – as our populations merge and the border becomes a desert mirage.
Is this the road to America's future ... or to our past? The Barbarians ancient Rome welcomed as settlers accelerated its disintegration into the Dark Ages.
"They come here without our permission, take our land, ignore our rules, and refuse to speak our national language," observed comedian Steve Martin. "Well, from now on we at least should make it a law that every one of them learn to read, write and speak Apache."
Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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