Today, the Washington Post blasts the city of Manassas and its mayor, Douglas S. Waldron (R), for its "ludicrous," "outrageous," "unconstitutional," "Big Brotherish," and "patently bigoted" new zoning ordinance. As we mentioned the other day, and as you've probably heard, the ordnance's aim is as follows:
Under the guise of upholding standards in its pristine neighborhoods, it would outlaw households consisting of a family's cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews.
Why on earth would Manassas do this? Has Mayor Waldron suddenly realized that overcrowded houses represent a dire threat to Manassas? Or is it that "Manassas is undergoing a demographic shift as Hispanic immigrants, legal and undocumented, move into what were once relatively homogenous neighborhoods?" And some people don't like that one bit? As the Post points out:
Some of the immigrants share housing with their relatives to help out with the rent or mortgage -- the sort of arrangement that the late Justice Powell, a proud Virginian, would recognize as part of the striving that constitutes the American dream. Some communities are welcoming, others less so; in Manassas, city officials decided that the best way to deal with the immigrants was to harass them.[...]
To enforce their decree, Manassas authorities are sending inspectors into selected city households to interrogate hard-working people about the numbers and relationships of the inhabitants.
That's beautiful, huh? America at its finest...not! What next, is Mayor Waldron going to hire the so-called "Minutemen" as his enforcers? Start posting signs at the edge of town that say "Mexicans and other undesirables: better leave town by dark?" Start flooding the jails of Manassas with scofflaw nieces, nephews, and grandparents? Round up a posse to hunt down Grandpa from Guatemala? I wonder if the Mayor Waldrons of the world have ever seen the Statue of Liberty or read its stirring words? Have they ever heard about the United States as a welcoming nation for immigrants, people who want to work hard and pursue the American Dream (as my great grandparents did, and probably most of your ancestors probably did too)? Guess not.
So what on earth is going on here? Is Mayor Waldron responding to a real crisis? Hardly. According to the Post:
From the grousing of Manassas officials, you'd think that the city's immigrant families were living in rowdy boarding houses, sleeping in their dozens by shifts, making a nuisance of themselves and besmirching the neighborhoods; if that were the case, Manassas would have a legitimate interest in taking action. In fact, as The Post's Stephanie McCrummen reported, the homes targeted by Manassas inspectors are neither untidy nor unruly nor particularly crowded; an inspector's scrutiny might be drawn by eight people living in a five-bedroom house, hardly an instance of acute overcrowding.
In other words, this has nothing to do with "overcrowding," the ostensible purpose of the Manassas zoning ordance, and everything to do with anti-immigrant/anti-Hispanic bigotry. I wonder...if there were a flood of Australians or British flooding into Manassas, would Mayor Waldron have seen fit to crack down? Would there have been cries of outrage at all the Aussies holding large parties ("throw another shrimp on the barbie!") in their backyards? Damn shrimp on the barbie! Would people have reeled in horror as all the tea and crumpets, steak and kidney pies, and Vegamite sandwiches vanished from their local supermarkets? Would there have been a movement to these people to speak proper ENGLISH, dammit?!? (Hey, what's with all these funny words like "barbie," "bloke," "lorry" and stuff? Get those Brits and Aussies outtahere!!!).
OK, let's be blunt here. This is only happening because the immigrants have brown skin and come from Spanish speaking countries. As the Post says, "[These immigrants] simply represent a wave of demographic change, one of many that have defined and redefined America from its founding." Unfortunately, as with the Chinese, Irish, Jews, and many others before them, the Douglas Waldrons (and Jerry W. Kilgores and Bill Bollings) of the world are unclear on the concept, etched onto the Statute of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor,. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."
Sad.
[UPDATE: George Washington University constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley adds: "It's hard to describe how many parts of the U.S. Constitution this law actually violates...It's hard to believe any attorney actually reviewed this law."]