On ‘The SilentnInvasion’nWhere to begin refuting WaynenLutton’s “The Silent Invasion” articlen{Chronicles, August 1987)? Only anbook could cover every point. Let’snstart with a quote from Thomas Jefferson,nwho in the Declaration of Independencencharged that King Georgenin “had endeavored to prevent thenPopulation of these States; for thatnPurpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalizationnof Foreigners; refusing tonpass others to encourage their Migrationnhither.” The 1986 ImmigrationnReform and Control Act takes GeorgenIll’s side against Mr. Jefferson and thenDeclaration signers. I myself just experiencednits repressive force. In July Insigned aboard The Orange CountynRegister to pen editorials. IRCA requirednme to fill out the INS’s newnForm 1-9, “Employment EligibilitynVerification.”nI almost didn’t fill it out. After all,nwhy should I have to prove I’m annAmerican? I was born here. I’ve alwaysnbeen a citizen. I even served four yearsnin the U.S. Army, defending Americanagainst the imposition of just this kindnof oppression. Why should I, andnevery other American applying for anjob, be humiliated like a Soviet subjectntrying to get a job on a collective farm?nFriends of mine have been pullednover in their cars and rudely searched.nThey hadn’t even been to Mexico!nThey were just driving in once-freenCalifornia. Why the search? Only tonscratch the neo-Know Nothings’ paranoidnitch. The INS goons thought mynfriends had Mexicans stashed somewhere.nWhat happened to the FourthnAmendment “right of the people to bensecure in their persons, houses, papers,nand effects, against unreasonablensearches and seizures?” Congress adjournednit last November by passingnIRCA.nIRCA is also taking an economicntoll. “For the first time in memory.nPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESnthere are not enough workers to harvestnthe crop,” reported the July 11,n1987, National Journal about a Californianfarm. “Bunches of overripengrapes drop to the desert floor andnshrivel to raisins. Rotting fruit fallsnfrom the trees in nearby citrus groves.nAnd the farmers lay the blame squarelynon the new Immigration Reformnand Control Act.” The article quotesnJ. Roy Gabriel of the Farm Bureau,nwho says: “If this continues, there’sngoing to be some severe economicnconsequences. You’ll wipe out an entirenindustry.”nLutton frets about unemploymentnas Help Wanted signs sprout up everywherenacross America. He worriesnabout overpopulation, but Americanmaintains one of the lowest populationndensities in the world. I suggest Luttonnread not Paul Ehrlich and other “populationnbomb” paranoids, but JuliannSimon and George Gilder.nThere is an underlying truth to thenimmigration “silent invasion” hysteria.nOurs is a country people try to getninto. In contrast, who wants to emigratento the Soviet Union or Albania?nNo one. This is an axiom of modernnpolitics: Free countries attract people,nslave countries repel them. Woento us when no one wants to come tonAmerica!nYet Lutton approvingly writes thatnHarold Ezell, INS western regionalncommissioner, “recently authorizednthe construction of a concrete barriernto help block a five-mile stretch on thenborder. … He has joined the chorusnof voices calling for the creation [i.e.,nconstruction] of a cleared strip alongnthe border, where nothing could benbuilt.” That sounds not like Americanbut like the Berlin Wall.nImmigration does present problems,ncertainly. But the old solutions stillnwork. Many immigrants don’t learnnEnglish? Stop bilingual and other stupidnprograms. Some immigrants soaknup welfare and Social Security? Gutnthem off. Some immigrants are dis­nnneased? Quarantine them as we used tonat Ellis Island, or deport them.nThis nation of immigrants can easilynabsorb more—nay, it needs immigrants.nThey’ve always given Americanthe electric energy European visitorsnadmire. Immigrants also import anhealthy dollop of morality, love ofnfamily, and love of work, and at a timenwhen we need all three.nAt the end of his article Luttonnapprovingly quotes James Madison:n”We welcome every person of goodnfame that really means to incorporatenhimself into our country, but repel allnwho will not be a real addition to thenwealth and strength of the UnitednStates.” Lutton didn’t realize it, butnMadison is seconding the position ofnMr. Jefferson, as stated in the Declaration.nBoth Founding Fathers welcomedndecent immigrants. And todaynprobably 95 percent of those now considerednillegal would truly add tonour “wealth and strength.” Criminals,ndrug-pushers, disease-carriers—ndeport them all. Who questions that?nBut it violates the tradition of Americanto treat so shabbily both our ownncitizens, now subject to unconstitutionalnINS brutalities, and decent immigrantsnwhose only “crime” is thatnthey work hard at decent jobs, want tonbecome citizens, and love America.n—John SeilernSanta Ana, CAnI am unhappy with “The SilentnInvasion,” by Wayne Lutton, in yournAugust issue. Such an article shouldnnever have appeared in a magazinenwhich claims to be friendly to Christianity.nThe author seems hardly able toncontrol his hatred of immigrants, accusingnthem of all kinds of things.nImmigrants have been good fornAmerica! They have consistentlynadded vitality to our economy andnsociety. Just think of the Asians in ournengineering schools—they will be thenNOVEMBER 1987 I 57n