GET THE FACTS STRAIGHT

by Bob Chambers (pictured above)

Steve King’s most recent venomous rant (Des Moines Register, April 27) concerning a May 1 work walkout by immigrants, legal and illegal, across the nation, will go down in history as a last sickening gasp of a dying breed in Washington: the self-serving fear-monger. This two-term incumbent Congressman from Iowa’s fifth district is free-falling toward reality, and he’s going to land very hard in November.

The incumbent’s feeble attempts at historical perspective betrayed his utter ignorance of what a strong tool the boycott has been for oppressed people in modern times. The bus boycotts of the 60’s, organized by Dr. Martin Luther King which led the civil rights movement forward, and the grape and lettuce boycotts of the 70’s, organized by Cesar Chavez,  which helped empower migrant farm workers to organize, come to mind as two great examples from current history.   

Worse, the “facts and statistics” cited by the incumbent in his diatribe are lies, used to create fear and anger among us, and whose darker purpose is division and control.

I propose another approach in which we focus on the truth, not lies; on hope, not fear; on respect, not bigotry; and on the prosperity of community, not the poverty of division.

The truth is that there are no comprehensive statistics kept by law enforcement regarding crimes committed by people who are in our country illegally. However, the most comprehensive survey to date of national crime data concludes, "In the small number of studies providing empirical evidence, immigrants are generally less involved in crime than similarly situated groups, despite the wealth of prominent criminological theories that provide good reasons why this should not be the case."

Total crime and property crime in California are half what they were in 1980; violent crime has fallen more than a third. The state's Hispanic population during that time has increased 120 percent.  Similarly, while Arizona's population grew 41.8 percent between 1993 and 2003, for instance, the rates for every major category of crime fell.

This doesn't mean immigrants from Mexico and Central America are saints -- it just means that they may not be the marauding horde Steve King wants you to believe they are.

Princeton University sociologist Douglas S. Massey reports that 62 percent of illegal immigrants pay income taxes (via withholding) and 66 percent contribute to Social Security. Forbes magazine notes that Mexican illegals aren't clogging up the social-services system: only 5 percent receive food stamps or unemployment assistance; 10 percent send kids to public schools.

On the work front, Hispanic unemployment has tumbled to 5.5 percent, only slightly above the national average of 4.7 percent and considerably lower than the black unemployment rate of 9.3 percent. According to 2002 Census Bureau data, Hispanics are opening businesses at a rate three times faster than the national average. In addition, there were almost 1.6 million Hispanic-owned businesses generating $222 billion in revenue in 2002.

Rather than panicking, we all need to take a deep breath and attempt a little common sense. Virtually everyone agrees that we need to secure our borders, deport criminals and slackers among the illegal-immigrant population, and revitalize the notion of citizenship by insisting that prospective citizens master the English language and the fundaments of American history and culture.

The Statue of Liberty symbolizes America's affection for the world's tired and poor, the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Before our fear-mongering Congressman starts knocking down Lady Liberty and set about erecting a wall in her place to "protect" America from the world, shouldn't he at least spend a little time trying to get the facts straight?

Bob Chambers lives near Essex, Iowa. He is a candidate for Congress from Iowa’s 5^th district.