Intelligent Life Reported in Conservative Establishment!

It's happened to me maybe a dozen times since         I published Alien Nation in 1995:         at some conservative gathering in Washington or         New York, a well-known figure in the movement         takes me aside and, glancing around to make sure         no-one from The Wall Street Journal Edit         Page is watching, hisses:

"I agree with you about         immigration!"

Then he (or she - really true, in this case)         scuttles off.

I don't blame them for being cautious ...         well, not much. It's hard enough for         conservatives to get published in the national         media. And the few outlets that are available to         them take a notoriously uncollegial view of         anyone who questions the immigration enthusiast         orthodoxy.

Actually, considering the reign of terror,         it's surprising how many established         conservatives have quietly spoken out. That's         why we recently linked to an article http://www.hudson.org/American_Outlook/articles_nov-dec_00/reynolds.htm by Alan Reynolds, one of the architects of the         Reagan supply-side revolution, now at the Hudson         Institute http://www.hudson.org/.         Reynolds takes the moderate position that         immigration can be a good thing - but the         current policy isn't. (Another article by         Reynolds, on Texas, health insurance and         immigration, is at /reynolds_texas_kid.htm).

The most dramatic evidence yet of intelligent         life within the conservative establishment: the         December issue of American Enterprise magazine http://www.theamericanenterprise.org/taedec00.htm,         published by the Washington D.C.-based American         Enterprise Institute. It's an immigration         special issue with a really critical cast. Note         especially the debate on assimilation http://www.theamericanenterprise.org/taedec00b.htm between John Fonte and Michael Barone (who         continues to show NO SIGN OF HAVING READ ALIEN         NATION or any other critique of immigration,         alas). Editor Karl Zinmeister's lucid summary http://www.theamericanenterprise.org/taedec00a.htm is studiedly moderate ("Currently, my wife         and I are helping settle a Sudanese family of         six in our hometown through a church refugee         program") but nevertheless makes it crystal         clear that the current policy is broke and needs         fixing.

Ideas do have consequences, and it's possible         that we may be pleasantly surprised by the new         Republican Congress's attitude to immigration.         Some time ago, TV pundit John McLaughlin         publicly predicted that immigration reform would         be passed in the second year of the Gore         Administration.

I'll believe it when my conservative friends         stop hissing in my ear.

November 22, 2000