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U.S. Policy on Asian Immigration (cont'd)
on the growth of our communities in the U.S. It would appear that the real agenda in the current legislation is to stem the flow of third world people into American society. In fact, Senator Simpson practically announced as much in remarks on the Senate floor when he introduced the bill on March 17, 1982. After duly noting the demographic projections referred to earlier, he went on to state: "If immigration is continued at a high (meaning the current) level, but a substantial portion of these new persons and their descendents do not integrate fully into the society, they may well create in America some of the same social, political, and economic problems which exist in the countries from which they have chosen to depart. Furthermore, if language and cultural separatism rise above a certain level, the unity and political stability of the Nation will -in time -be seriously eroded. Pluralism within a united American nation has been our greatest strength. The unity comes from a common language and a core public culture of certain shared values, beliefs, and customs, which make us distinctly , 'Americans.'"
What else can the Senator mean by "a common language" than English? And what is suggested by "core public culture" other than European? Just what is the language and cultural separatism that he fears will erode the unity and political stability of the Nation? Isn't the Senator not only blaming the victims of prejudice for its consequences, but taking it even further and using these consequences as an excuse for limiting the right of these victims to have their families join them in America? The Senator appears to be smitten by a classic case of xenophobia and racism, despite his protestations to the contrary in his March 17 speech. But he has done us the favor of explicitly announcing the real agenda in the Simpson-Mazzoli bill.
It is not enough simply to identify the racist motivations in the formulation of immigration policy. This is but another reminder to us of an ever-present factor in American society and politics - a reminder that many of our white liberal friends would even decry as a product of our own paranoia. What we must do is to proceed with grim and steadfast determination to fight these kinds of changes in the federal law and policy at every turn, brooking no compromise and sparing no effort, because we can be secure in the knowledge that such changes are motivated by racism and are aimed at strangling the growth, vitality and the very future of our communities. We must fight these changes in the places where it will count - among our elected Congressional representatives, in the Republican and Democratic parties, in the bureaucracies of the State, Justice and labor Departments, and in the electoral process. By directing the tremendous energy and resourcefulness within our communities at the bastions of real political power, we shall, in time, be able to defend ourselves when the backlash strikes.
Tom Surh is an attorney in practice in Oakland, California. He was on the Staff of the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy in 1980 and has been long associated with the Korean Community Service Center, San Francisco.