More Than Just
"Nativism"

There Are Valid Reasons for Concern
About Today's Immigration Flows

by Robert Winter

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There’s a faction in America these days that tends to dismiss concerns about the volume of immigration as just "nativism."  In these circles, anyone concerned about the contemporary flow of people from other parts of the world into the United States is considered to be some sort of sheet-wearing Bubba—probably with no more than a third-grade education, and presumably also deeply suspicious of pizza, Chinese Checkers, or anything else remotely "furreign."

It is thus with a certain amount of trepidation that I raise my own misgivings about contemporary immigration.  But this is an issue that genuinely needs to be examined

What bothers me most about today’s flow of immigrants?

First of all, I don’t want to become a foreigner in my own country.  I don’t want to be constantly immersed in languages and cultures that I don’t understand.  I also don’t want my fellow citizens to be put in that position.  A small example:

There is a McDonald’s near my home where all the staff speaks Spanish as a first language.  It’s a clean, efficient, well-run McDonald’s;  as a consumer, I prefer it over other McDonald’s outlets in my area that are staffed by native-born Americans.  But when I hear all of the staff’s internal communications taking place in Spanish, from light-hearted banter to serious procedural instructions, I can’t imagine a non-Spanish speaker being able to make it as an employee there.  That bothers me.   I don’t want Americans excluded from jobs in their own country because they’re culturally "different."

(c) COPYRIGHT 1998 ROBERT WINTER.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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