Reactionary Anti-Immigrant Groups Now Blaming Immigrants For Drought in Southwestern US
There’s a link to the original report at the link, and I usually prefer originals, but I needed to link to a nice thrashing commentary in this case.The anti-immigrant movement, under groups like The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), blame immigrants and population levels in the American Southwest for lack of water and potential water shortages. We know droughts are becoming more frequent and are lasting longer. There are real causes for water shortages in the Southwest and equitable access to water is highly important. The anti-immigrant movement, however, has only one cause and one solution: blame immigrants.
In The Center for Immigration Studies’ new report, “Population, Immigration, and the Drying of the American Southwest,” the group asserts that the key to addressing water scarcity is immigration. According to CIS, immigration is causing the Southwest population to “explode” and making insatiable demands on “our” limited resources. CIS encourages its readers to take action and even claims that the government is “afraid” to address immigration.
Kathleen Parker, writer for CIS, presents a flood of figures to relate the grim states of the Rio Grande, the Colorado River and the reservoirs and aquifers spread across California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado. Parker paints a threatening picture in which wild fires are likened to atomic bombs and the local history is “dotted with violence and shoot outs over the precious resource [water].”
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