The Other McCain

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Chicago Mayor Goes Full Jussie Smollett, Blames ‘Right-Wing Extremism’ for City’s Migrant Crisis: ‘They’re Still Mad That a Black Man Is Free in This Country’

Posted on | November 30, 2023 | 2 Comments

Everybody remembers the crazy storyline from January 2019: In the wee hours of a Tuesday morning in Chicago, actor Jussie Smollett claimed he was returning from a trip to a Subway sandwich shop when he was attacked by two white men wearing “Make America Great Again” caps, who shouted racist and homophobic slurs, poured bleach on him, tied a noose around his neck and exclaimed: “This is MAGA country!” As fake hate-crime hoaxes go, this was one of the least plausible narratives ever. Republican terrorists in Chicago? At 2 a.m.? In below-zero weather? Targeting an actor who most people never heard of?

Smollett’s tale was quickly exposed as a lie, but his hoax expressed a common belief among liberals, that “hate” is a widespread menace in America, and that Republican voters are all guilty of “hate.” It was therefore not really surprising that the mayor of Chicago — Joe Biden got 74% of the vote in Cook County — would invoke this belief when discussing his city’s illegal immigrant problem:

QUESTION: Would you want some limits placed on the flow of migrants from other cities and states?
CHICAGO MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: It has to be better coordination. What we have seen is a raggedy form instituted by right-wing extremism. Everyone knows that the right-wing extremism in this country has targeted Democratically-ran cities and quite frankly, they’ve been very intentional about going after Democratically-ran cities that are led by people of color.
Their whole motivation is to create disruption and chaos because that’s what this particular party has been about. This is the same political party that did not want to accept that President Obama was actually an American. It’s the same Republican right-wing extremism that stormed the Capitol. It’s the same right-wing extremism that refuses to accept the results of the Civil War. It’s raggedy. It’s disrespectful. It’s mean-spirited. It’s an unclean spirit, quite frankly.
So I got you. I got you. I just want to make sure that people understand what we’re facing. That’s why it’s so important that the faith community is leaning in at this moment. And so what what I’ve said, there has to be better coordination. Look, Pastor Will Hall who’s also an Alderman of the Sixth Ward visited the border. He saw the chaos firsthand. And so part of our effort to go to the the border was to make sure that there was better coordination with the flow of migrants who are seeking asylum here but this is not unprecedented.
When the Ukrainian refugees found their way to the shores of America there were 30,000 of them right here in the city of Chicago and you don’t hear a word about it because it was coordinated. There was federal dollars that were attached to those families and so to your question, yes it has to be better coordinated. As far as limitations we have to have parameters that respect the dignity of families who want to call Chicago their home right.
It is abysmal and it’s an affront for everything that is good about this country, for the extremism in this country to use people as political tools to settle political scores for something that happened 400 years ago. They’re still mad that a black man is free in this country. This is nothing new.

Am I the only one who sees this as scapegoating, no different than Jew-haters blaming all the world’s problems on a “Zionist conspiracy”?

Instead of being distracted by the mayor’s (deliberately) divisive rhetoric, however, let’s talk about the actual policy issue involved. The subtext of the Chicago mayor’s remarks was the fact that in 2022, Texas Republican Gov. Gregg Abbott started bussing migrants to Democrat-run cities:

• Over 11,900 migrants to Washington, D.C. since April 2022
• Over 14,800 migrants to New York City since August 2022
• Over 8,700 migrants to Chicago since August 2022
• Over 3,000 migrants to Philadelphia since November 2022
• Over 1,500 migrants to Denver since May 18
• Over 610 migrants to Los Angeles since June 14

Keep in mind that these numbers are the proverbial “drop in a bucket” compared to the tsunami of “asylum seekers” who have poured into Texas as a result of Joe Biden’s policies. Abbott’s bussing program — overwhelmingly popular in Texas, of course — is an expression of a common-sense reaction to Biden’s policies: Why should Texans (most of whom vote Republican) have to bear the burden of Biden’s policies, while the liberals who voted for Biden (and who live far away from the Mexican border) are exempt from the consequences of the open-borders policy they evidently prefer? All Abbott is doing is giving Democrat voters a chance to experience what it is they’re voting for.

Once we start talking about actual policy — a discussion that Democrats wish to avoid — it behooves us to speak in terms of numbers. Most people have no idea about the actual numbers behind the immigration debate. As a matter of fact, for the past two decades or so, the United States has admitted about 1 million legal immigrants annually. Many of my conservative friends believe that number is too large, and that it would be better to reduce the number of legal immigrants admitted to the U.S., especially in terms of what’s called “chain migration.” Nevertheless, when you realize we’re legally admitting a million immigrants every year, and have been doing so since the 1990s, the problem of illegal immigration comes into sharper focus. Given our generous welcome to any immigrant willing to follow the law, why should we let ourselves be bullied into tolerating the unwelcome presence of foreign lawbreakers?

Democrats (and open-borders Republicans) don’t want to discuss the actual policies and actual numbers in regard to immigration. The open-borders lobby wants to use emotional appeals and accusations of “racism” to persuade the foolish and intimidate any potential opposition. We cannot solve policy problems by such tactics, and it behooves conservatives always to avoid mirroring the name-calling and emotionalism of the open-borders lobby. Educate the public, and tell them the actual facts. This report was just issued today:

The Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) shows that the total foreign-born or immigrant population (legal and illegal) was 49.5 million in October 2023 — a 4.5 million increase since President Biden took office and a new record high. At 15 percent, the foreign-born share of the U.S. population is also the highest ever recorded in American history. As the debate rages over the ongoing border crisis, this finding is important because administrative numbers such as border encounters or even legal immigrant arrivals do not measure the actual size of the immigrant population, which is what ultimately determines immigration’s impact on the country.
Among the findings:

• In October 2023, the CPS shows that 15 percent of the U.S. population is now foreign-born — higher than any U.S. government survey or census has ever recorded.
• The 49.5 million foreign-born residents (legal and illegal) in October 2023 is also a new record high.
• Since President Biden took office in January 2021, the foreign-born population has grown by 4.5 million — larger than the individual populations of 25 U.S. states.
• Based on our prior estimates of illegal immigrants, more than half (2.5 million) of the 4.5 million increase in the foreign-born population since January 2021 is likely due to illegal immigration. If adjusted for those missed by the survey, the increase would be larger.
• The 4.5 million increase overall and the 2.5 million increase in illegal immigrants are both net figures. The number of new arrivals was significantly higher, but was offset by outmigration and natural mortality among the foreign-born already here.
• The foreign-born population has grown on average by 137,000 a month since President Biden took office, compared to 42,000 a month during Trump’s presidency before Covid-19 hit, and 68,000 a month during President Obama’s two terms.
• The scale of immigration is so high that it appears to have made the new Census Bureau population projections, published on November 9 of this year, obsolete. The bureau projected that the foreign-born share was not supposed to hit 15 percent until 2033.
• The largest percentage increases since January 2021 are for immigrants from South America (up 28 percent); Central America (up 25 percent); Sub-Saharan Africa (up 21 percent); the Caribbean (up 20 percent); and the Middle East (up 14 percent).
• Immigrants from all of Latin America increased by 2.9 million since January 2021, accounting for 63 percent of the total increase in the foreign-born.
• While a large share of the recent foreign-born growth is due to illegal immigration, legal immigrants still account for three-fourths of the total foreign-born population.

You can read the whole thing. My point is that irresponsible demagogues like the mayor of Chicago don’t care about facts, any more than Jussie Smollett cared about facts when he perpetrated his notorious hate-crime hoax in Chicago. They are two sides of the same coin.



 

Category: Chicago, Democrats, Immigration

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2 Responses to “Chicago Mayor Goes Full Jussie Smollett, Blames ‘Right-Wing Extremism’ for City’s Migrant Crisis: ‘They’re Still Mad That a Black Man Is Free in This Country’”

  1. Chicago's Marxist Moron Mayor - sailing on the Sea of Denial - The DaleyGator
    November 30th, 2023 @ 7:37 pm

    […] Via The other McCain […]

  2. News of the Week (December 3rd, 2023) | The Political Hat
    December 3rd, 2023 @ 7:31 pm

    […] Chicago Mayor Goes Full Jussie Smollett, Blames ‘Right-Wing Extremism’ for City’s Migr… Everybody remembers the crazy storyline from January 2019: In the wee hours of a Tuesday morning in Chicago, actor Jussie Smollett claimed he was returning from a trip to a Subway sandwich shop when he was attacked by two white men wearing “Make America Great Again” caps, who shouted racist and homophobic slurs, poured bleach on him, tied a noose around his neck and exclaimed: “This is MAGA country!” As fake hate-crime hoaxes go, this was one of the least plausible narratives ever. Republican terrorists in Chicago? At 2 a.m.? In below-zero weather? Targeting an actor who most people never heard of? […]