If you ask a reactionary why he gets so worked up about illegal immigration, you are likely to get two responses. Let’s analyze them:
- THEY TAKE JOBS AWAY FROM REAL AMERICANS AND DEPRESS WAGES: Most of the numerous studies on this subject don’t support that argument, even under historically normal conditions. Today, we have a labor shortage, which has resulted in inflation and declining real wages for many “real Americans”, so the argument has no validity whatsoever.
- THEY ARE FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT THAN WE ARE, AND THEY WILL SWAMP OUR CULTURE: As the Democrats have learned to their cost over the last two elections, Hispanics are not culturally monolithic. However, as a generalization, it is fair to say that they are socially conservative but believe government should play a large role in improving the lot of its citizens. That is exactly what reactionaries believe, as well. In addition, some parts of Hispanic culture have become embedded in ours, as well. The clear us and them distinction made by reactionaries consequently makes little sense.
The bottom line here is that the purported rationales aren’t very compelling. That leaves you with racism and the annoying sound (to Americans) of spoken Spanish. Those, I’m afraid, are what really motivate most reactionaries.