You can read a recent report from the University of South Carolina here if you want, but it is the same old attempt by the elite and oh-so-enlightened to sway public opinion on the “rich blessings” that we gain from the Presidents refusal to secure our borders and the resulting colonization of our children’s America by Mexico.

Dr. Elaine Lacy, research director for the Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies at the university, conducted the two-year study, which provides the first profile of South Carolina’s Mexican immigrant population.

She and a team of graduate students interviewed 181 Mexican immigrants, ages 17 and older, in 15 counties: Aiken, Anderson, Beaufort, Charleston, Dorchester, Greenville, Horry, Jasper, Kershaw, Lexington, Newberry, Pickens, Richland, Saluda and Spartanburg.

I had a little time this morning to send a reply to the Charleston Post and Courier, which reported on the study[ S.C. Mexican immigrants reveal hopes, dreams – Robert Behre – today. Click here to read Behre’s report]

My [too – long] letter below. I also sent it to Dr. Elaine Lacy.

Lacey’s bio from USC: Dr. Elaine C. Lacy is professor of history at the University of South Carolina at Aiken and director of research activities for the Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies at the University of South Carolina at Columbia. Since the 1980s, she has examined Latino immigration and incorporation into U.S. society. Her work focuses on Latino immigration and settlement processes in the Southeast. Dr. Lacy is co-editor of a volume, “Mexican Immigration to the Southeast: Impact and Challenges” (2005), and has numerous articles, scholarly papers, and presentations on Latino immigration

You can e-mail her here. You can send a short and polite [ much shorter than mine…it will never see print] letter to the Post Courier in Charlston here.
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Not to put a damper on Robert Behre’s report on Dr. Elaine Lacy’s love fiesta with illegal immigration, but: The federal government defines “immigrants” as people who “enter the U.S. lawfully with the intention of permanent residence” or “aliens who are granted permanent legal residence”.

Illegal aliens are not “immigrants”. Interviewing 181 Mexicans in South Carolina does not a balanced view – or report – make.

Here in Georgia we have the highest rate of growth of illegal aliens in the nation, at 114% from 2000 – 2005. The next highest state? Arizona, a border state [45%]. The official estimate here is that we have about half a million illegals – mostly from Mexico. Most who study the issue understand that figure to be off by half.

Absent the secure borders and equal application of the law promised by the Bush administration, we understand that we all live in Border States now. We here in Georgia also understand the consequences.

English is an optional language in Georgia, contrary to what the 181 Mexicans told Lacy, bilingualism is a goal pursued by the vast and well funded lobby that supports the illegals nationwide.

Come see 21st century Metro Atlanta: the flag of Mexico flies everywhere and much of our signage and telephone menus are in two languages.

Our schools are bursting with non-English speaking students and our emergency rooms look and sound like Mexico – except in Mexico, Mexicans are expected to pay for the medical service they receive…not the case here.

Can I still say that in my own country? You can in Mexico, a nation that deports more people annually than does the U.S.

The “nation’s largest ever” Meth bust occurs here periodically, with the most recent being bigger than the last. Illegal aliens from Mexico invariably being the suspects apprehended. Ditto for fraudulent document mills.

For Americans in America, using a false Social Security number is a felony – for a Mexican illegal, it is merely part of the process of “looking for a better life”. Si?

More than 10% of Mexico now lives in the U.S. and polls in that paradise to our south show that more than 40% of the 107 million who still live there would migrate here if they could. [Maybe they haven’t gotten the word yet…the U.S. President will not stop them.]

Most of us here in what we are sadly calling “Georgiafornia” don’t have a need to depend on a study of 181 Mexicans to understand their “hopes and dreams”…they announce them quite clearly at regular rallies and protests.The clear message is that life here is better than home, they are not ever leaving, borders and immigration and employment laws are human-rights violations and Americans who demand that the above laws be enforced as enthusiastically here as they are in Mexico are “racist xenophobes”.

Most of us recognize that the criminal employers who are allowed to make their own rules are as guilty as the illegals and that propaganda reports like Lacy’s are aimed at encouraging amnesty – again, like we tried in 1986. A path to citizenship twenty years ago for three million illegals is what led to our now suffering more than 20 million illegals in our republic today.

No gracias and no sale Dr. Lacy. Reality here beats hopeful myth there every time.

King is president of the Dustin Inman Society, a Georgia-based coalition of citizens dedicated to educating the public on the consequences of illegal immigration. www.thedustininmansociety.org