FAIR Says Borders Too 'Open' Already

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Dec 22, 2003

Byline: John Elvin, INSIGHT

FAIR Says Borders Too 'Open' Already

Readers continue to write in to express their concerns and interests around the move by libertarians - some of them members of the Libertarian Party - to become a major political influence in New Hampshire. Among policies attributed to those of the libertarian persuasion that evoked comment is that of "open borders," allowing the free flow of people from country to country as they please.

The concern about the effect of a flood of newcomers into the United States isn't just a futuristic open-borders issue. Even under current policies, this decade is expected to see the most massive wave of immigration in U.S. history. As reported in the Washington Times, a study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) shows that the decade will bring 45 million immigrants to this country. What's particularly curious is that the influx isn't related to labor needs or economic conditions.

The economy hasn't been so hot and unemployment has been on the rise, yet the wave of immigrants exceeds that of record levels set in the 1990s. The article quoted FAIR Executive Director Dan Stein as saying that "immigration today is wholly unrelated to economic needs and conditions in this country."

It's interesting that the influx no longer is focused on a few popular destinations, notably the states of New York, California, New Jersey, Florida, Texas and Illinois. Newcomers now are heading for other states such as North Carolina, Colorado, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan - all of which experienced increases of 100 percent or more in traditional immigration rates during the 1990s. FAIR's concern centers on the impact this new wave of immigration will have on tax-supported public services and infrastructure, such as public health and education.

A nonprofit public-interest organization with more than 70,000 members, FAIR believes the creation of greater tax burdens is responsible for a middle-class exodus in California, where the population is expected to include 12 million foreign-born people by 2010.

If this is a typical impact of our present policies, it seems ironic that antitax libertarians would favor taking down the walls altogether.

'Christmas Star' Still Puzzling To Scientists

While for some it is no mystery at all, there are those of scientific bent who turn their attention at this time of year to trying to figure out the Star of Bethlehem. Roger Scott, an astronomy professor at Western Kentucky University, discussed some of the theories with a reporter for the Bowling Green, Ky., Daily News. The most enduring "explanation," he said, is that the Christmas Star was a particularly bright comet.

If it was a comet, and if scientific speculation is correct concerning the persons known as the three Wise Men or Magi, it must have hung around for some time. Scientists believe the wise men were in fact Zoroastrian priests from the area presently known as Iraq. So, in those days when such journeys might have taken as long as two years, they would have traveled well over 1,000 miles on their pilgrimage.

Another theory, based on the notion that the star doesn't seem to have caught the eyes of anyone other than the Wise Men, is that it was the result of a "convergence" that would have been noticed by astrologers but not by the general public. At the time, Saturn and Jupiter were very near each other and might have created the appearance of a single bright object, according to speculation. Astrological theory at the time proposed that this convergence translated into a sign of fulfillment of Jewish Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, astronomer Scott told the newspaper. Another scientific take on the matter is that the Star of Bethlehem was a supernova, a star experiencing fantastically brilliant burnout, as scientists say our own sun will experience in around 5 billion years. At that time, our sun's final explosive energy will consume Mercury, Venus and Earth. So they say.

Religion, Family Help Kids Cope With Violence

Inner-city youth who have witnessed or been victimized by violence tend to develop "conduct problems," according to Yale University researchers engaged in a study supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Conduct problems are described as activities such as fighting, shoplifting, vandalism, theft, lying and skipping school. But those youngsters who experience the care and attention of parents, and/or engage in religious practices such as prayer, watching or listening to religious programs and reading religious literature, are less likely to get involved in antisocial acts.

Writing in the November issue of the journal Child Development, Yale psychology professor Michelle Pearce said she and colleagues found that 57 percent of urban youth had seen others threatened with violence, 55 percent had seen others beaten up, 33 percent had seen people shot or shot at and 24 percent had seen someone stabbed. At the same time, only 19 percent of those surveyed had been threatened personally with violence, and only 7 percent actually had experienced serious injury in an act of violence.