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Friday, November 16, 2007

Who's the real nut here?

Andres Oppenheimer, Latin American correspondent for the Miami Herald, who was called a "nut" on Bill O'Reilly's show on Nov. 8, has responded in a follow-up column.
In an earlier column on Nov. 4 titled "Angry migrant underclass might erupt in U.S.," , he said:

"We are creating an underclass of people who won't leave this country and, realistically, can't be deported. They and their children are living with no prospect of earning a legal status, no matter how hard they work for it. Many of them will become increasingly frustrated, angry, and some of them eventually may turn violent."

In his second column, he said,
"My main point was that the estimated 1.8 million U.S.-raised undocumented youths — who were brought to this country as toddlers, often speak no other language than English and don't even remember their countries of origin — will soon be thrown into the U.S. labor market with zero chances of getting a legal job.
What is going to happen with these youths? Most are barred from applying for in-state college tuition and will grow up on the streets. Many of them will join the gangs that are already terrorizing many U.S. cities. Undocumented kids, especially the brightest ones, need to be given an opportunity to gain U.S. citizenship, as was contemplated in the Dream Act that was recently defeated in the U.S. Senate."

And more importantly, people like Bill O'Reilly are more the problem than the solution.
"My opinion: For the record, I never called for violence, nor would I. Suggesting that I was endorsing violence, as was done in the O'Reilly show, is irresponsible journalism.
But even more irresponsible is what O'Reilly and other cable television anti-immigration crusaders are doing every day: inciting Americans to rebel against ''illegal immigrants'' -- most of whom are Hispanic -- without offering any realistic solutions to America's immigration problem."

Try to get O'Reilly and his minions to see that. Bet you it'll take awhile.

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