Were '90s Democrats Racists? Xenophobes?

I recently had a conversation with a brilliant man -- a liberal friend -- I've known for almost 50 years. He opposes President Trump's "extreme vetting" immigration policy.

"Christian charity requires us to admit the poor -- the oppressed - of any nation who would seek refuge here." Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he added "And if the additional 50,000 refuges that we situate in Michigan vote Democrat in the 2020 election, and turn the state 'blue' again, so much the better."

I wasn't sure, if his afterthought was serious or putting the needle in; whether his motivation was to be Christ-like, or to win the next election, or both. Perhaps because I saw a glaring contradiction between his deep concern for all who would immigrate here, and his utter lack of concern for the child in the womb, I wasn't sure whether winning the next election was his genuine concern.



I also couldn't help but compare his remarks on immigration with those made by another very prominent Democrat 22 years ago.

"All Americans -- not only in the States most heavily affected, but in every place in this country -- are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country.

"The jobs they hold might otherwise be held by citizens or legal immigrants.

"The public service they use impose burdens on our taxpayers.

"That's why our administration has moved aggressively to secure our borders more by hiring a record number of new border guards, by deporting twice as many criminal aliens as ever before, by cracking down on illegal hiring, by barring welfare benefits to illegal aliens.

" ... we will try to do more to speed the deportation of illegal aliens who are arrested for crimes, to better identify illegal aliens in the workplace as recommended by the commission headed by former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan.

"We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we must do more to stop it."


This was six years before America became conscious of the real possibility of terror in the homeland -- six years before radical Islamic terrorists flew passenger liners into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, murdering some 3,000 Americans; before Fort Hood, the Boston Marathon massacre, the attack on the Marine Recruiting Office in Chattanooga, and the San Bernardino Christmas party massacre. And before the Mexican Drug cartels really got going. Today those cartels ship cannabis, cocaine and heron across our open border. Chicago and other American cities have become killing fields as gangs kill over who controls territory. Drug-cartel related violence in the streets caused the Chicago Crime Commission to label Joaquin Guzman Loera, head of Sinaloa Drug Cartel, as Chicago's Public Enemy No. 1.

There are obvious reasons American parents for generations have taught their children to never talk to strangers. If a stranger came to your door, and asked if he could move into your home, would you let him? Would you be comfortable you could do so safely without "vetting" him? Would you let him sleep in a room next to your small children unless you were satisfied as to their safety?

The bottom line is this: Regardless of whether my friend's position on vetting is based on Christian charity or crass political considerations, it ignores the fact that ISIS and drug cartels are at war with us, even if we don't think we are at war with them.

Prudence is a Christian virtue.

By the way, my prominent Democrat was President Bill Clinton. The citation is from his Jan. 24, 1995 State of the Union speech.

Posted: QCOline.com February 5, 2017
Copyright 2017, John Donald O'Shea