The Financial Crisis Hits the Immigration Debate

by David L. Wilson, MRzine

November 30, 2008



Part of the right wing routinely blames undocumented immigrants for

just about everything.  On September 24, nine days after the financial

meltdown started in earnest, the National Review Web site carried an

article by columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin blaming "illegals"

for the crisis and the subsequent bailout of the banks.  "The Mother

of All Bailouts has many fathers," she wrote.  "But there's one giant

paternal elephant in the room that has slipped notice: how illegal

immigration, crime-enabling banks, and open-borders Bush policies

fueled the mortgage crisis."



Malkin's pieces often read like parodies of conservative punditry, and

there's something distinctly comical about the idea that a few

undocumented homeowners caused a multi-trillion dollar financial

crisis.  Less than a month after Malkin's article was posted, the Wall

Street Journal showed that in fact mortgages bought by out-of-status

immigrants have performed rather well.  But the Malkin diatribe is a

useful indication of how the immigration debate is likely to change

over the next months. [...]



Read the full article:

http://mrzine.monthlyreview...org/wilson301108.html