Tom Tancredo, Feminist

Jesse Walker | August 13, 2007

Debbie Nathan notes an unintended consequence of the latest immigration crackdown:

The intent of the new policy is to eradicate employment opportunities in the US for the undocumented. Of course, we're talking only about the overground economy, including the agricultural sector....Meanwhile, there's the black market -- which is far more about female nannies and house cleaners than about crack dealer dudes. Employers of domestic help rarely pay social security, and the government certainly won't be knocking on the doors of lady bosses in the West Village or Brentwood, much less checking ID amid the Bugaboos in Washington Square Park.

Still, for Central American and Mexican women, there's the fabled, illegal trip across the evil Rio Grande or Arizona desert, with the snakes and dehydration and sexually assaultive "coyotes" -- the smugglers. Who wants to risk that?

Plenty of distaffers. Studies show that half of illegal immigrants coming from the south today are female. And Jose explained to me yesterday that crossing for women is getting downright convenient, thanks to the US government....He knows lots of people who've always used smugglers, and until recently, he says, the coyotes were a nasty lot. "They would cross 40 people at a time, impose the charges at the border, make everyone walk three to six days to San Antonio, often rob customers, and frequently rape the women travelers."

But now, Jose says, all those Border Patrol agents are having an effect. It's so hard to cross now that fewer people are coming. This has created intense competition among the coyotes, who have responded by vastly improving their services...."And they're much nicer to women now. No more robberies. No rapes. They know it will get out by word of mouth, and they desperately want to maintain and expand their customer base."

Comments

thoreau|8.13.07 @ 10:02AM|#

And they said regulation wasn't good for anything!

:)

|8.13.07 @ 10:08AM|#

"And they said regulation wasn't good for anything!"

Interesting... I was thinking "the market at work". Minimal regulation, maximum market force! Everybody wins.

CB

|8.13.07 @ 10:10AM|#

Remember to ask your maid or nanny if she is secretly in the pay of the MexicanGovernment.

|8.13.07 @ 10:13AM|#

Now if we can just raise or eliminate quotas, prospects will look even better.

|8.13.07 @ 10:34AM|#

Here is a paper about immigrants and crime rates which is bold enough to include actual data:

"Surprisingly, at least from the vantage of conventional wisdom, the data show the above hypotheses [immigrants have high crime rates] to be unfounded. In fact, the incarceration rate of the US born (3.51 percent) was four times the rate of the foreign born (0.86 percent). The foreign-born rate was half the 1.71 percent rate for non-Hispanic white natives, and 13 times less than the 11.6 percent incarceration rate for native black men (see Table 1)."
...
"Second Generation
Incarceration rates increase significantly for all US-born coethnics without exception. That is most notable for Mexicans, whose incarceration rate increases more than eightfold to 5.9 percent among the US born; for Vietnamese (from 0.46 to 5.6 percent among the US born); and for the Laotians and Cambodians (from 0.92 percent to 7.26 percent, the highest of any group except for native blacks). "

jimmydageek|8.13.07 @ 10:55AM|#

Interesting stats there, Le Mur. I have to ask, however, if it isn't simply influence by the American culture that leads to these increases of incarceration rates?

Foreigners arrive, have few friends or family, work hard to make a living, don't partake in many social activities that might get them in trouble, etc...

2nd generation: go to American schools, make friends, enemies, join "cliques", family values (which are traditional to foreigners) diminish, go out with friends, more occasions in which to get in trouble...etc...

Is American culture to blame for all of the increased crime rates? More so than the foreigners? I think it's worth considering.

|8.13.07 @ 11:29AM|#

jimmydageek asks:

Is American culture to blame for all of the increased crime rates?

An interesting hypothesis, but remember that "get[ting] in trouble" implies "with the law." And, as many people here will tell you, just because it's against the law doesn't mean you're being bad. I think a lot of people here would argue that American government is to blame for a significant fraction of the difference in crime rates between first and second generation Americans.

Or in the alternative, it could be that, as much as libertarians dislike our government, immigrants typically come from countries that are even more repressive, and mete out harsher punishments than our justice system would. Because of this, they're more apt to "go along to get along" simply out of habit, whereas their children, steeped a culture of (relatively) lax punishment for minor crimes, realize they are more welcome to exercise their freedoms, which makes them more likely to hit whatever line in the sand there is. In which case, America's conflicting traditions of loving our personal freedom and resenting the freedom of others help do boost the crime rate.

TLB|8.13.07 @ 11:56AM|#

Of course, it's actually an "immigration" "crackdown". The first because illegally crossing our border isn't "immigration" as falsely stated, the second because this will be little more than a ploy.

Since the U.S. is never going to open the borders completely, the only way to reduce coyote abuse, border deaths, and the like is to... enforce our laws. Those who - in one way or another - oppose enforcing our laws (knowing we'll never have a completely open border) - are partly responsible for those deaths and other consequences.

Enjoy your "cheap" lettuce.

thoreau|8.13.07 @ 12:17PM|#

CheApleTTuce goesWell on TACos. WanTSOme?

|8.13.07 @ 12:53PM|#

So, entering this country with the intent to settle here isn't immigration if it's illegal? Come again?

I'm not a huge fan of meaningless arguing over words, but this just jumped out at me.

|8.13.07 @ 1:26PM|#

I'd like someone to explain how El Paso, with a population that is 76% Hispanic (read: Mexican) is the third safest city in the nation among localities with populations of 500,000 or more.

|8.13.07 @ 1:29PM|#

Oh, and San Antonio, which is around 67% Hispanic, is the eight safest.

|8.13.07 @ 1:35PM|#

I'd like someone to explain how El Paso, with a population that is 76% Hispanic (read: Mexican) is the third safest city in the nation among localities with populations of 500,000 or more.

Oh, and San Antonio, which is around 67% Hispanic, is the eight safest.

A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty 'Hi-yo Silver!'

The Lone Ranger!

TLB|8.13.07 @ 1:46PM|#

If anyone had been to El Paso, they'd realize:
1. It's incredibly sleepy.
2. Most of those who live there aren't "Mexicans".
3. Violence is starting to cross over from Juarez, so it may not enjoy that distinction for long.

On a side note, it has one of the lowest if not the lowest per capita incomes of U.S. cities of that size.

|8.13.07 @ 1:48PM|#

2. Most of those who live there aren't "Mexicans".

Well, LeMur said crime is even worse for native b born Hispanics. So, crime should be off the charts! But its not.

|8.13.07 @ 1:49PM|#

Oh, and my numbers were wrong. El Paso is actually the second safest.

|8.13.07 @ 1:52PM|#

TLB, have you ever been to San Jose? #1 safest on the list with a not insignificant (30%) Hispanic population.

thoreau|8.13.07 @ 1:54PM|#

iaGree wITh MikeP.

|8.13.07 @ 2:12PM|#

TLB, have you ever been to San Jose? #1 safest on the list with a not insignificant (30%) Hispanic population.

Well, that 30% was in 2000. Since the prior two decades showed a consistent 4% per decade rise in proportion of Hispanic population, the number is probably closer to 33% today.

These new numbers may be new immigrants. Or they may be new children in Hispanic households who have more children than non-Hispanic households.

Most likely, however, is that representatives of the Mexican government have infiltrated either the Census Bureau or Morgan Quitno Press (who compiles the safest city rankings from FBI crime statistics) to further the propaganda of the reconquista. We should not discount the possibility that the Mexican government may have infiltrated both.

thoreau|8.13.07 @ 2:27PM|#

Most likely, however, is that representatives of the Mexican government have infiltrated either the Census Bureau or Morgan Quitno Press (who compiles the safest city rankings from FBI crime statistics) to further the propaganda of the reconquista. We should not discount the possibility that the Mexican government may have infiltrated both.

I don't agree with what MikeP said, but I do agree with his decision to be sarcastic.

dhex|8.13.07 @ 2:43PM|#

i like the lemur of freedom's routine, frankly. it is a cleansing mineral water dousing for the tastebuds of rationality.

|8.13.07 @ 5:35PM|#

I don't have time to actually read this today, but bottom line: If this increases the chances of Penelope Cruz putting on a sexy maid's outfit and vacuuming my carpets, I'm all forit.

|8.13.07 @ 11:38PM|#

i like the lemur of freedom's routine, frankly. it is a cleansing mineral water dousing for the tastebuds of rationality.

I'm sure the Lemur will be along shortly to tell us how those hispanics in El Paso, San Antonio, and San Jose are really white. After all, the world can't live up to our PC fantasies in which some of the safest cities in America have significant, if not majority-hispanic populations. That would mean the FBI is surrendering to the PC-police! Oh noes!