Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. But these days, they’ll first have to get by right-wing culture warriors intent on vilifying even legal immigration as part of their political performance art.
The latest act in this cynical circus comes courtesy of four members of the St. Charles County Council who are sponsoring a resolution opposing a humanitarian program designed to bring Latin American immigrants to the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area.
It’s a blatant ideological stunt that carries no legal weight but sends a terrible message from a region whose core — ºüÀêÊÓƵ city — has suffered alarming population loss in recent decades. ºüÀêÊÓƵ is now home to fewer than 300,000 residents, down from a high of more than 800,000 in the 1950s. And our St. Charles County neighbors are arguing against immigration?
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That population plunge would have been even worse if not for the infusion of tens of thousands of Bosnian refugees who flooded into the city starting the 1990s. It was a historic immigration success story with echoes still evident in the Bevo Mill neighborhood, with its great Bosnian food and vibrant culture.
Like earlier infusions of immigrants to ºüÀêÊÓƵ — Italians on the Hill, the Irish in Dogtown, Bohemians in Soulard, Mexicans on Cherokee Street — the Bosnians brought with them not only much-needed population, but that unique cultural pulse that only major urban centers have.
With the city’s pulse dangerously low these days, a plan by the nonprofit International Institute of ºüÀêÊÓƵ to make the metro area a destination for Latin American immigrants, announced in September, is encouraging.
The proposal would take advantage of a new federal program that will issue temporary visas for thousands of immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, provided they meet specific criteria.
In ºüÀêÊÓƵ, the Institute would focus on drawing immigrants here who have already entered the U.S. and are currently residing in Chicago and other cities. It would arrange three months free housing here, English language classes, job training and placement in conjunction with the AFL-CIO and assistance from immigration attorneys.
The proposal is intrinsically pro-family, pro-work, pro-economic growth, and is based entirely on legal immigration.
So, of course, conservatives who supposedly cherish all those principles are finding ways to oppose it.
The resolution raised at the St. Charles County Council last week is a marvel of misleading implication and reactionary dog-whistle politics.
It notes that the proposed program will “resettle possibly thousands of Latin American migrants in the City of ºüÀêÊÓƵ†from Chicago. It further notes that Chicago “has become a self-proclaimed sanctuary city and about 18,000 immigrants have arrived.†It quotes a statement from the ºüÀêÊÓƵ mayor’s office vowing to “welcome immigrants and refugees to the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area.â€
Then the resolution declares, seemingly apropos of nothing: “[T]he St. Charles County Council is strongly opposed to the importation of illegal immigrants into the region …â€
What does illegal immigration have to do with the Institute’s proposal? Nothing — again, it’s based entirely on a federal program that brings immigrants under a specified legal process.
But by raising the specter of thousands of Latin American migrants flooding into ºüÀêÊÓƵ via Chicago, and then throwing in the words “illegal immigrants,†the resolution sounds its silent whistle loud and clear. It’s not only misleading and cruel, but unAmerican in its attempt to vilify migrants who have followed the rules.
Interestingly, that earlier influx of Bosnians — like the more recent ºüÀêÊÓƵ-area program that brought in Ukrainian immigrants, some of whom have in St. Charles County itself — drew none of this foreboding from County Council members. We’ll leave it to the readers to ponder what might account for the difference regarding Latin American immigrants.
At last week’s council meeting, one of the resolution’s sponsors, Councilman Joe Brazil, R-Defiance, claimed the reason the bogeyman of illegal immigration is even part of the discussion regarding this fully legal program is that attorneys general from 21 states, including Missouri’s Andrew Bailey, have joined a lawsuit challenging the legality of the Biden administration immigration policy on which the Institute’s program is based.
But that suit, like the county resolution itself, is a partisan right-wing stunt designed to leverage fear of immigration generally for political purposes. The involvement of the deeply unserious Bailey — last seen getting slapped down in court for the blatant politicization of his office to sabotage efforts at putting abortion rights on ballot — should be proof enough that the immigration suit is little more than a GOP bumper sticker.
With four co-sponsors from the seven-member council, the St. Charles County resolution might well be headed for passage. If so, the Institute and ºüÀêÊÓƵ officials pursuing the immigration program should give the resolution all the consideration it deserves — exactly none — and continue the important work of opening ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ arms to the world.