11/24/2014 By Peter Morici Townhall.com
President Obama’s decision to ignore
the law by granting de facto amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants
brought to America as children and those who are parents of children with legal
status was a terribly foolish act. It will only serve to exacerbate racial
tensions.
Polls indicate the overwhelming
majority of whites view illegal immigration as threatening. Many see immigrants
as taking jobs from native-born Americans, pushing down wages and contributing
to cultural decline.
While many may silently harbor
racial bigotry, the adverse economic consequences for whites are real and
palpable.
Illegal immigration increases the
supply of low-skilled workers, and that drives down wages for less educated
whites and African-Americans.
Millions of illegals will qualify
for work permits and be able to take more visible, better-paying jobs. Native
born Americans will face more competition for positions paying significantly
above the federal minimum. For example, those paying between the averages for
the hospitality and construction industries—$17 and $25 per hour, respectively.
Exacerbating racial tensions among
highly skilled professionals, elite universities, reflecting years of pressure
from the Department of Education, divide admissions along informal racial
quotas, and that disadvantages white applicants.
A group called Students for Fair
Admissions has brought suit in federal court against Harvard and the University
of North Carolina charging that practice discriminates against Asians, who tend
to be the best academically qualified racial group.
If they prevail, and given the
inclinations of the administration to pressure schools to admit
African-Americans and Hispanics, even more white applicants would be squeezed
out of top universities their antecedents founded and endowed.
Already many academically qualified
children of successful white professionals are denied access to universities of
the same status their parents attended, and consequently face much diminished
career and lifetime earnings prospects.
The president’s recent actions will
increase the pools of Hispanic and Asian college immigrants and applicants and
further exacerbate intergenerational downward economic mobility among whites.
Last fall, when asked if he had the
authority to end the deportation of illegal aliens, Obama responded, “Actually,
I don’t” and that he could not appease immigrant advocates by violating the
law.
Many Hispanics and Asians come from
countries with recent histories of authoritarian governments or governments
where a single party has maintained control, and national leaders simply do
what populist sentiments requires—the law be damned.
Appeasing Hispanic and Asia voters,
that is exactly what president Obama did with his executive order granting de
facto amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants.
It is not difficult to see why many
white Americans would perceive illegal immigration as undermining their culture
and the rule of law, and see Democrats as opportunists who would trash the
constitution to maintain their grasp on power.
No one should be surprised that
large majorities voted for Republican congressional candidates in November and
Governor Romney in 2012.
Given the concentration of
Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans in New York, California and several
swing states like Virginia, the Democrats have a good shot at winning most
presidential elections in coming years.
However, white voters still account
for about 70 of the eligible voters, and given their particular dominance in
more-sparsely populated states and the south, Republicans will likely continue
to hold the House and Senate most of the time.
Still, the constitution does not
provide white Americans with a remedy when a president by-passes congress and
abuses executive power to satisfy a constituency that puts its agenda above the
rule of law.
Impeachment is not a viable option,
and Republicans lawmakers face uncertain prospects at best for successfully
challenging executive orders in federal court.
Whites face a government that is
explicitly working against their interests, the economic prospects of their
children, and democratic processes they have spent more than 200 years
defending.
If that is not a recipe for racial
animus, I don’t know what is.
Peter Morici is an economist and
business professor at the University of Maryland, and a national columnist. He
tweets @pmorici1
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