Picking Up Buchanan’s Torch on Immigration

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Posted on 01/22/2025 8:53:49 AM PST by Angelino97

Various media outlets are reporting that deportations will begin on day one of the incoming Trump administration. “There’s going to be a big raid across the country,” said immigration border czar, Tom Homan. “We’re going to take the handcuffs off ICE and let them go arrest criminal aliens, that’s what’s going to happen.” What has been called the “National Question” is now mainstream and a battle looms—a battle that will determine whether America will continue to exist.

But I want to ever so briefly return to the past. As Peter Brimelow recently wrote, the paleoconservatives have warned since at least the 1980s about the consequences of unchecked immigration. For their service, they were slandered, canceled, and blacklisted. But we would be aided in understanding our present by returning to their past work. Brimelow’s salient Alien Nation is a good place to begin. But if there was a figurehead of the movement, it was Pat Buchanan.

Buchanan’s reputation has enjoyed a resurgence of late. Numerous outlets and writers, including Rusty Reno, have called for Buchanan to receive the Medal of Freedom from the incoming president. But in an earlier time, before being recognized as a forerunner of Donald Trump, Buchanan was a prophet without honor in his land—the voice in the wilderness warning against unrestricted immigration, forever wars, and “free trade” agreements that ultimately hollowed out Middle America. Buchanan has the gift of vision, able to see decades ahead. He called on his countrymen to fight the future being planned for us by scribblers, academics, and one-worlders.

In State of Emergency, a 2006 book primarily dealing with immigration. Buchanan exhibited a sense of foreboding and decline that animated much of his work. “As Rome passed away, so the West is passing away, from the same causes and in much the same way. What the Danube and Rhine were to Rome, the Rio Grande and Mediterranean are to America and Europe, the frontiers of a civilization no longer defended.” His warnings so far, have gone unheeded.

One primary theme Buchanan hammered at is that the demographic shift unleashed by the wave of immigration since 1965 is differs dramatically from previous waves. American elites have ignored the fact that today’s stream of immigrants is significantly different from its predecessors in size and scope. By ignoring these facts, the managerial class reconstructed America from the last best hope of mankind into the polyglot flophouse that Teddy Roosevelt warned us it could become.

Before 1965, immigration was shaped by the national origins quota system, which granted visas primarily based on an immigrant’s country of birth. As a result, 70 percent of visas went to three countries—Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany. Modifications imposed by the Hart-Cellar Act, however, established family reunification, and to a lesser extent employment preferences, as the new criteria for admission. The resulting demographic, economic and cultural tsunami was described by Buchanan, who offered readers a multitude of statistics presented in deep historical perspective.

“In 1960,” explains Buchanan, "America was a nation of 180 million, 89 percent of whom were of European ancestry, 10 percent black, with a few million Hispanics and Asians sprinkled among us. Ninety-seven percent of us spoke English. … [But]by 2050, they [Hispanics] will be 24 percent of a nation of 420 million. By nation of origin of our people, America will be a Third World country. Our great cities will all look like Los Angeles today. Los Angeles and the cities of the Southwest will look like Juarez and Tijuana. Though we were never consulted about this transformation, never voted for it, and have protested against it in every poll and referendum, this is the future the elites have prepared for our children."

If public opinion stands in opposition to the demographic changes destroying the American nation, why does it continue? In a chapter entitled “Roots of Paralysis,” Buchanan spreads the blame widely. Corporations push for amnesty and collude in mass criminality to see their illegal workers pardoned as a means of driving down wages. Economists provide ideological cover by putting forth the notion that sovereignty, independence, and country itself should be sacrificed to the gods of globalism and increasing GDP. Race-hustling politicos funded by big foundations like Carnegie and Ford see open-borders as a way to augment their power through the manipulation of ethnic voting blocs. And churches, both Catholic and Protestant, have championed amnesty in the name of feeding the hungry and giving drink to thirsty while in reality succumbing to the politics of guilt.

Buchanan also famously examined a fundamental and underlying question that lies at the root of the conflict over immigration: What is a nation, and what holds it together? Buchanan deserves credit for taking on proponents of the “creedal nation” mythology, the belief that the United States is defined by a set of universal political principles and ideals—such as liberty, democracy, and equality—that are available to anyone, regardless of background. This ideology, writes Buchanan, “is the antithesis of conservatism, for it is rooted in a belief in the plasticity and malleability of human beings. It teaches that history and race, religion and culture, do not matter, that roots mean nothing.”

Buchanan presents a compelling description of “nation” that is more than a set of ideals, a geographic territory or economic zone; it is also a community with common ancestry, traditions, and values. Without these deeper ties, a nation’s sense of identity becomes fragile and vulnerable. Buchanan stresses that the strength of a nation lies in its ability to maintain a collective sense of belonging and loyalty, rooted in a shared past and a common future. “Patriotism,” says Buchanan, “is the soul of a nation. It is what keeps nations alive.” When patriotism wanes, when a nation loses the loyalty of its people, it begins to decompose.

Buchanan also offers a critique multiculturalism and mass immigration, arguing that these forces erode the foundational bonds that make a nation strong. According to Buchanan, a nation is built on a sense of unity, where citizens share a common heritage, language, and values. Because the “nation” is inherently tied to ethnicity and culture, immigration policies should prioritize the preservation of national identity and cohesion. The success of a nation depends on its ability to assimilate newcomers into this shared cultural framework, and unchecked immigration undermines the social fabric by diluting these common bonds.

According to Buchanan the state has a duty to protect the integrity of its national identity. Thus, laws and policies should prioritize the well-being and cultural cohesion of the nation’s native population and should not allow it to be overwhelmed by foreign influences. He warns that a failure to protect these foundations will lead to the decline of national unity and ultimately jeopardize the stability of the state itself.

Buchanan’s definition of “nation” is therefore both cultural and ethnic, highlighting the importance of maintaining a homogenous national identity. He posits that the survival and prosperity of a nation depend on the preservation of its cultural continuity which is threatened by large-scale immigration and multiculturalism. Thus, Buchanan advocates for stronger immigration controls and a renewed focus on cultural assimilation.

So what is to be done? Buchanan suggests turning off the magnets that attract immigrants. The first step is terminating birthright citizenship to the children of illegal aliens, who become anchor babies. Next, Buchanan argues that subsidies for illegals in the form of welfare, health care, and education must be denied. Likewise, employers should face the imposition of fines and possible jail terms to penalize firms that hire illegals. Borders must be secured via the construction of a fence across our southern border paid for by taxes on remittances. Finally, an immigration moratorium should be imposed so that outgoing and incoming migration balances with the goal of stabilizing the ethnic composition of the country and providing time for us to assimilate those already here. To this I would add that carrots and sticks must be employed to encourage remigration.

It may seem like a tall order but, in fact, it only takes a resolute will and determination. Buchanan’s advocacy of such measures and his presentation of the facts already led to charges of xenophobia and racism in his day. But Buchanan made a simple case that Americans have shaped a common culture worth preserving and share a common destiny worth saving.

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1 posted on 01/22/2025 8:53:49 AM PST by Angelino97

To: Angelino97

2 posted on 01/22/2025 8:56:53 AM PST by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )

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3 posted on 01/22/2025 8:57:51 AM PST by ComputerGuy

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4 posted on 01/22/2025 8:58:46 AM PST by Mr. N. Wolfe

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5 posted on 01/22/2025 9:00:35 AM PST by DIRTYSECRET

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6 posted on 01/22/2025 9:04:00 AM PST by Lowell1775

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7 posted on 01/22/2025 9:07:13 AM PST by MachIV

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8 posted on 01/22/2025 9:11:57 AM PST by JonPreston ( ✌ ☮️ )

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9 posted on 01/22/2025 9:14:38 AM PST by Angelino97

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10 posted on 01/22/2025 9:21:57 AM PST by Pelham (President Eisenhower. Operation Wetback 1953-54)

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