A Krikorian Sampler

Krikorian: Latinos gaining power via voting is "radical," "revolutionary." Nov. 28, 2007.

Krikorian says it’s “immoral” to tell people about their rights -

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, which favors stricter controls on immigration, called [training immigrants about their Constitutional rights] "immoral." - Maria Sachetti, “Customs raids spur training on rights - Advocacy groups teach immigrants to protect selves,” Boston Globe, Sept. 6, 2007, p. A1.

Krikorian disagrees with the Pentagon, & the Federal Reserve Chairman on the impact that immigration will have on our aging population -

"Our population is going to get older no matter what we do. This is part of what happens when birthrates go down and life expectancy goes up," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of CIS. "This is part of modern life, and immigration can't do much about it." Stephen Dinan, “Immigration fight turns to U.S. workers; Ads cite jobs squeeze,” Washington Times, Sept. 3, 2007, p. A1

Krikorian doesn’t mind a few “regulars” being rounded up -

"So what if they sweep up regular illegal aliens as part of a gang sweep?" said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. "The regular illegal aliens shouldn't be getting a free pass." Brian R. Ballou & Maria Sacchetti, “Advocates criticize federal roundups - Say raids trap noncriminal immigrants,” Boston Globe, Aug. 30, 2007.

Krikorian criticizes “the inadequate breeding efforts of the American people” -

“immigration is presented as a way to supplement the inadequate breeding efforts of the American people because business and other interests think that Americans are making the wrong decisions about how many children to have.” Mark Krikorian quoted in “100 Million More. Projecting Impact Of Immigration On U.S. Population, 2007 To 2060,” States News Service, August 30, 2007.

Krikorian says it’s “not responsible” to cut an English-speaking honors student and track star “a little slack” -

''There are certainly some people that, in some other world, we would want to cut a little slack for,'' said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based think tank that supports tighter controls on immigration. “But that isn't possible given the chaos that we have in our immigration system. It wouldn't be responsible.'' Kathleen McGrory, “Former Dade student's deportation saga familiar,” Miami Herald, Aug. 23, 2007, p. B1.

Krikorian says tightness can lead to flexibility—some day, but probably not in your lifetime -

Mark Krikorian: We have always given every group that complains loudly enough an exception, and at some point that has to stop. When we have a tight system, then we can actually afford some flexibility. “Thousands of Liberians in U.S. Told to Go Home,” National Public Radio, Morning Edition, Aug. 23, 2007.

Krikorian thinks that Microsoft’s plan to move operations to Canada will cause some “transitional” pain -

“Fans of restrictionist policies like the Center for Immigration Studies argue that they will cause some economic pain, but only briefly. ‘There is going to be an economic impact, but it will be a transitional impact,’ said Mark Krikorian, CIS' executive director. ‘We've heard these Chicken Little arguments over and over again in other contexts, but they are all lobbyist spin.’” Investor’s Business Daily, Aug. 22, 2007, p. A1.

Krikorian wants all Muslims out of America, too, because he’s in favor of forming repressive Islamic regimes & developing alternative automobile fuels -

“[O]ur widely shared strategic objective of discrediting political Islam is undermined by our tactical efforts at preventing the establishment of Islamic regimes . . . Islam will change, but only (or at least sooner) if we pursue some variation of what Larry Auster calls "separationism." "Separationism" is the isolation of Islam from the rest of the world through military action, restrictions on immigration, and other means, presumably including a radically more aggressive search for alternative automobile fuels. Mark Krikorian, “Two, Three, Many Islamic Republics,” National Review Online, Aug. 22, 2007.

Immigration-related military morale problems are “little messes” -

"Until you restore order more broadly, you can't go around mopping up little messes like this and think you're accomplishing anything," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies. "This is what happens when you let 12 million people live in your country illegally. They're going to marry, get jobs, raise families just like everyone else, and you're going to end up with this kind of situation." Juliana Barbassa, “Soldiers fight for U.S., worry as family members face deportation,” Associated Press, Aug. 10, 2007.

Krikorian on the digestibility of modern immigrants -

"We are dramatically less able to digest immigrants successfully and turn them into Americans" than before, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors reduced immigration levels. "The consequences are a kind of balkanization." “At Odds Over Immigrant Assimilation; Whether the U.S. Government Should Offer Encouragement Is Debated,” Washington Post, Aug. 7, 2007, p. A1.

Krikorian on the horrors of cooking up legislation

behind closed doors -

“It's cooked up behind closed doors. It's buried within hundreds of pages of legislation. And it's based on the hope no one is paying attention.” Krikorian refers to the comprehensive immigration reform bill, CNN, July 18, 2007.

Krikorian on the horrors of giving people lawyers when they are charged with crimes -

“And if you're arrested, some state and local governments will spend taxpayer money to help you -- give you legal representation.” Mark Krikorian, quoted on Lou Dobbs Tonight, July 4, 2007, about the shocking practice of giving lawyers to immigrants charged with crimes.

Krikorian on why we should think about deporting all those inferior native-born children of immigrants, who are “not equipped to navigate modern society” (but that can’t be the fault of our US public school system, right?) -

"Most of the rioters in France were the native-born children of immigrants," says Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank. "And that alienation is consistent with what we have seen in our own country where the American-born children of immigrants compare their lives, not to the situation in the old country, but to the lives of other Americans." Their children (American born) have grown up here and have First World expectations. Unfortunately, very often they don't have the skills, education and attitude to succeed in the First World, Mr. Krikorian says. "Immigrants appear to have lower crime rates on the whole than Americans, but their children have significantly higher crime rates," he says. They can drift into trouble if they don't have an anchor, such as the bonds of old-country society, and are not equipped to navigate modern society, Krikorian said. From Dimitri Vassilaros, “McCain's French connection,” Pittsburgh Tribune Review, June 18, 2007.

What’s happening now is NOT “mass deportation” . . .

"It's a false choice," said Mark Krikorian, executive director for the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that favors stricter immigration controls. "Because mass deportation is not even being discussed, except by maybe some kook writing a blog in his grandmother's basement." Billy House, “Deportation Is 'A False Choice,’” Tampa Tribune, June 18, 2007.

Fortunately, Krikorian can’t be read by Angelenos -

“The majority of working-age people in Los Angeles are functionally illiterate.” Mark Krikorian, quoted in “Re: The Company You Keep,” National Review Online, June 12, 2007.

What’s wrong with Swahili? -

''You'd have more 'Press 2 for Swahili,' no question about that,'' he says. ''It'd be a complete catastrophe.'' Mark Krikorian, quoted in Jason DeParle, Should We Globalize Labor, Too?” New York Times, June 10, 2007, p. 80.

Krikorian equates “guest workers” and “peasants” -

Mr. Mark Krikorian (Executive Director, Center for Immigration Studies): “The fact is that 21st century economy does not need an ongoing flow of 19th century peasant labor to prosper.” Rebecca Roberts, “Guest Workers Vote Stalls Immigration Bill,” All Things Considered, National Public Radio, June 7, 2007.

Krikorian thinks that government should decide whom you can marry, and whether or not you can have kids -

. . . Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which seeks to limit immigration, says that Congress should bar legal permanent residents from sponsoring their spouses and minor children for green cards. "That's a pretty awesome power," Krikorian said. "It's basically privatizing the decision of who gets to come to the United States, and it should be reserved for people who have bought into America" by becoming U.S. citizens. Although legal permanent residents are eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship five years after getting their green cards, Krikorian added, until they do apply, they are at best "prospective citizens" who deserve fewer privileges. "People need to understand that you don't get to decide who moves to America until you become an American." N.C. Aizenman, “Legal Residents Dismayed Over Latest Measures,” Washington Post, June 3, 2007, p. A06.

Krikorian thinks all immigrants are “peasant labor” and hasn’t read Adam Smith too closely (Smith did not favor restrictions on the mobility of labor, which is what Krikorian favors) -

“The president is emotionally and psychologically repelled by the idea of enforcing immigration laws. He sees it as uncompassionate, as un-Christian, especially with regard to Mexico. But he sees Mexico as kind of a proxy for all immigration and he loves his Mexican servants and therefore all immigration must be good. . . . There’s no excuse for any large guest-worker program. A vast, mobile labor force like ours -- willing to move, willing to change jobs, change occupations -- does not need to be supplemented by peasant labor from abroad. A 21st-century society like ours doesn’t need 19th-century workers to function. That doesn’t mean the economy won’t accommodate their presence. We have a very flexible economy. So we have lots of illiterates? Well, then, the economy generates jobs for lots of illiterates -- lawn care that people should be doing on their own; pool cleaning that electronic devices could do just as well. Things like that. We’ll accommodate the labor; we have no need for it. And if we enforce the law and gradually reduce the illegal population, Adam Smith has confided in me that we’ll be able to deal with it.

Q: And if these 12 million to 20 million illegal people suddenly disappeared, how would the market adjust?

A: Well, several things would happen if we reduce the illegal population. First, it wouldn’t happen overnight. It would be a process, not an event, which allows the market to adjust. The way the adjustment would happen would be twofold. One, employers would do a variety of things to attract more of the existing work force -- that is to say raising wages and benefits, improving working conditions, changing the way they recruit people -- maybe from out of state or in colleges, what have you. But at the same time, employers would find ways of using the existing labor force more efficiently, whether it’s machinery, whether it’s farmers planting different kinds of crops that don’t require as much hand labor. All different kinds of things can happen, even in service industries, and the presence of all of this cheap foreign labor actually slows that process of productivity improvements and mechanization in the industries where these people are concentrated.” Mark Krikorian, as quoted by Bill Steigerwald, “Bush's immigration game,” Pittsburgh Tribune, June 2, 2007.

[And Adam Smith teaches us that many of those employers would move to other countries that don’t have restrictive immigration laws.]

Krikorian can’t tell a “legal” from an “illegal,” so proposes getting rid of them all -

It's not as though legals are from Mars and illegals are from Venus -- they come from the same countries, live in the same communities and families, and are often the same exact people. Mark Krikorian, “Legal, Good/Illegal, Bad?” National Review Online, June 1, 2007.