Mexifornia: A State of Becoming

by Victor Davis Hanson

Part history, part political analysis, and part memoir, Mexifornia is an intensely personal work by one of our most important writers. Victor Davis Hanson, known for his military histories and his social commentary, is a fifth-generation Californian who lives on a family farm in the Central Valley and has written eloquent elegies on the decline of agrarianism, Fields Without Dreams and The Land Was Everything. Here too, he ponders what has changed in California over the past quarter century, examining how the state and the Southwest more broadly—indeed, the entire nation—have been altered by hemorrhaging borders.Hanson admires the ambition and vigor of immigrants who have helped make California strong, but he indicts the disordered immigration policies that led to the present mess. He also illuminates the ways those policies are harmful to people who have come from Mexico and Central America seeking a better life in the United States.Nearly twenty years after the first publication of Mexifornia, Hanson offers an update on the continuing tragedy of illegal immigration. At the same time, he remains hopeful that our traditions of integration, assimilation, and intermarriage may yet remedy a predicament created by politicians and ideologues.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, American History, Cultural, Race, Philosophy

195 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2003

About the author

Victor Davis Hanson was educated at the University of California, Santa Cruz (BA, Classics, 1975), the American School of Classical Studies (1978-79) and received his Ph.D. in Classics from Stanford University in 1980. He lives and works with his family on their forty-acre tree and vine farm near Selma, California, where he was born in 1953.

Reviews

[John Mccullough · Rating 1 out of 5]

Former Republican Representative Dick Armey said some time ago he thought Americans were a country of whiners. I discounted his assertion but in reading this book and its many supporters I must confess defeat. Dr. Hanson and his many avid readers seem to bemoan the fact that California, historically called Alta California, is being invaded by, of all people, Mexicans. The horror of it. His sweet, innocent, moral Anglophones are having to live next door to invaders from Latin America who ditch their run-down cars in areas he must view on occasion, to speak nothing of other horrors, such a speaking Spanish. At least he didn't complain, like the mayor of Newton, Massachusetts, of people who "are illiterate. They don't even speak Spanish, just some tribal language." One of the Maya languages, actually - you know - the Maya who had astronomical observatories, literacy, cities, and that sort of thing before they were crushed by those Spanish-speaking conquistadores. Back to Hanson - this is simply a racist rant and whine about having to put up with some of the original Californios who were pushed out so nice English-speaking people could live there. Of course, forget the real Native Californians, the tribes who were destroyed by those pesky, unpleasant, dark-skinned Mexicans, etc. Some Anglos eat this drivel up and consider the book a responsible look at a serious threat to our nation. So were the Irish, the Jews, the Italians, whoever. The book is short and pathetic unless yo are a undereducated racist, Tea Partier, or other person threatened by anything different than vanilla-flavored Ma and Pa Kettle. It might even be called intellectual pornography. Skip it and spend your time on another book. Almost anything will do.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Victor Davis Hanson shares in Mexifornia his personal, sometimes harrowing account of dealing with Hispanic illegal immigration principally from Mexico on his farm in Selma, CA - a small town in central California. He shares with the reader what he has experienced and because he is a noted military historian and a Professor at Fresno St., he is able to qualify his view and thoughts with impeccable research. This book is quite controversial, but a necessary wake up call.
There are so many salient points here as to the how of why this epidemic is occurring, the reason it is a major issue that needs to be addressed, and the whose behind its perpetual cycle and the way to correct it. The major points to glean to correct issue is assimilation of these immigrants into Americans, to aspire multiracial-ism and not multiculturalism, the former which embraces the various racial differences in the country but with every citizen becoming an American, whereas the later multiculturalism is considered by Dr. Hanson as the death knoll of this country when the citizens are no longer united by a common theme, thought and direction because society operates in various sub-group cocoons that are intolerant of other cultures. Principally, this country is founded on Judea-christian-ism and its history despite past discretion's is important for context, scope and purpose. All of those who wish to live here should subscribe to being the best American they can be, which means we aspire to know our history, work hard, learn, prosper and love thy neighbor.

[John Gurney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I support immigration, but read "Mexifornia", with an open mind, anticipating disagreement with author Victor Davis Hansen. I lack space to fully refute his book, but will tackle broad points. First, I do not attack him personally; one shortcut around argumentation is to blandish terms like 'racist', and I don't think Hansen is one. He is a Cal State Civics professor who also farms in California's predominantly Mexican-American Central Valley, who, as described in the book, had close relationships with Mexicans his entire life. His fear is not of Mexican immigrants per se, but rather numbers supposedly so large, and Mexico so proximate, that they aren't assimilating and are overwhelming the system.

Hansen writes in an engaging style, though I almost always disagree with him here. That said, he has surprisingly little data. It is very heavy with anecdotal stories, many his own California experiences. It has to be said that illegal immigration is, by its very nature, not well documented, and no one can even nail down how many undocumented immigrants even live in the United States. I note that even the highest plausible estimates run at less than 3% of the US population.

He fails to ID a hugely important factor in immigration, namely, the tremendous drop in Mexican fertility. In 1976, the average fertility of an average Mexican woman was an astounding 7.2 children [http://www.colby.edu/personal/t/thtie...], though it is nearly the same as the USA today at 2.3 [http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/m...]. The math is such that Mexican population growth will all but stop in coming decades. [http://www.un.org/esa/population/publ...)



In reading his litany of complaints, several points struck me. One is that some of his concerns, e.g. litter and even stray animals left by illegal immigrants, can just as easily be leveled against any other group, including US citizens. Other parts of his book could have been written a century ago if we plug "Irish", "Italian", "German", "Pole" or "Jew" in for "Mexican."

Sometimes, Hansen almost gets things right. Starting on page 35, he identifies the menial work undocumented workers perform, and he guesses it’s not the money (~$10/hour cash) that stops native born Americans from working in the orchards or mowing lawns. I think he is right; young Anglos refuse to even consider work they consider 'below' themselves. Hence, the need for immigrant labor. Anyone who opposes Mexican immigration needs to be prepared to pay more for many services and goods, especially agricultural products. Deport the illegals, and who, exactly, will wash dishes, bus the tables, serve as maids, pick strawberries, or do your gardening?

Other complaints may be unique to California. This book got me thinking about Texas, the nation's second most populous state, which shares a much longer border with Mexico and has an equal proportion Mexican-American population; both California and Texas will soon be majority Latino. Yet, no one writes of "Mexitexas". Texas isn't facing the fiscal calamity or high unemployment of California. To me, the obvious answer is California has unique problems, unique to the state's fiscal policies and their economic consequences. California's Silicon Valley provides a number of incredibly well-paying jobs, but Palo Alto programmers have little impact on employment in Fresno or Anaheim. But the comparative success of Texas puts the lie to blaming Mexican-American immigration for California's problems. Note, also, the big four booming cities of Texas: Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas, all have atypically large Hispanic populations. San Antonio is 2/3 Hispanic and Harris County (Houston) is half Hispanic, according to the Census Bureau. Yet, jobs are plentiful and average income is growing.

He does not concede the economic impact of immigrants. The people he sees shopping at Wal-Mart or driving used cars are pumping money into local economies. When an immigrant pays rent or buys dinner at McDonalds, their dollars are no different than that of citizens, or the foreign tourists that so many cities attempt to lure precisely to spend money.

I agree with Hansen that Chicano studies programs accomplish little, and attempts to paper over, for example, Aztec human sacrifice are intellectually dishonest. Yet, does it matter? How many Mexican immigrants take college-level Chicano studies? Is anyone, even in Mexico, working to reintroduce Aztec rule?

Some of Hansen's concerns are bizarre. Though I've never met anyone who actually espoused "Aztlan", he writes of the fringe, so small it can't even be considered a 'movement', that wants a new Mexican state of "Aztlan" created in the American southwest. Come on. Ditto concern about divided loyalties. What Mexican-Americans want to merge the US and Mexico? For that matter, how many Mexicans want to merge countries? Are we to be worried that the Mexican army, so corrupt it cannot maintain domestic peace, is going to defeat the world's most powerful military, the US, to reconquer the parts of the United States ceded in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?

He is concerned about people not learning English, yet, the data don't back him up. See the data on English vs. Spanish speaking in Mexican-American households. (http://www.migrationinformation.org/F...) Intermarriage rates are very high, about one quarter of the total. (http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1616/amer...)

Hansen uses anecdotal stories, allowing someone like myself to compare and my own personal experiences. Chicagoland is not quite as Latino as metro L.A. or the Central Valley, but it has had an explosion of Hispanic immigration, and Hispanics are the largest ethnic group in many areas of the region. While some inner city Chicago barrio neighborhoods have the violence and poverty Hansen points to, it has to be said that (1) non-Hispanic city areas have similar problems and (2) there is a large, growing Latino middle class in Chicago and its suburbs. Even in the barrios, 26th Street and 18th Street are filled with small shops; the signs may be in Spanish, but there is a strong entrepreneurial streak there. (see also http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001...) A mistake probably made by Hansen and other immigration opponents is to assume that the Mexican immigrant overheard speaking Spanish along 18th Street is the same who was talking Spanish there fifty years ago. Immigration means fresh waves keep coming, but the earlier waves get on with life, moving up, moving out.

Take the example of Chicago's large northwest suburban areas running along Lake Street and Irving Park Roads: Melrose Park, River Grove, Schiller Park, Franklin Park, Bensenville, Addison, Villa Park, and others. These mostly single family housing areas were synonymous with Italians not that many years ago, but the Italians have largely been replaced by Latinos. The housing stock hasn't changed; the area is still stable, working class, though of a different hue. English is clearly the main language, though Spanish is spoken. Just as Italian was not that many years ago.

Hansen's book was published in 2003. Ironically, net Mexican immigration dried up with the US recession and has not fully recovered even now in late 2013. Mexico, for all its security problems, has moved toward democracy and its economy is much improved vis-a-vis the US. The Border Patrol is now apprehending far more Central Americans than Mexicans. While Hondurans and Salvadorans speak Spanish, they can't be accused of harboring secret sympathies for Mexico.

Is Spanish a threat? Not realistically. English is the language on the march. English is a requirement of college graduation in India and China. Aspirant middle class and elites most everywhere, including Mexico, enroll their children in English. English is the dominant language in the United States for business, entertainment, education, technology, medicine, and more. Can anyone really think Spanish is going to replace English? Mexican-Americans tend to lose facility in Spanish by the third generation- see Pew Center research data. Given the monolingualism of most Americans, it would be good for the country to have more citizens who can speak two languages. While precious few Americans can speak Hindi, Mandarin, Turkish, Russian, or other emerging languages, at least our multinationals can find millions of residents who speak English and Spanish.

I've known many Hispanics, and Mexican-Americans in particular, who are middle class, having risen from immigrant backgrounds. They invariably speak English, often without any accent. They are loyal Americans, often with what I sense is a twinge of guilt about Mexico; some of the second and third generation confessing they feel guilty they speak so little Spanish. I chatted recently with one of the workers in my office building, who kindly conversed in Spanish, to let me practice my admittedly poor Espanol. While she has a menial job, she has four children, one serving as a solider in Afghanistan, one doing well with a technical education in HVAC repair, and two others in college. The story is commonly American.

Hansen concludes that we should reduce immigration to about 150,000 and enforce the border. I'd argue we should open up legal immigration to a much more realistic number, more like 1 million or more, and then the border would largely take care of itself. It'd save money and be more humane than our current system where human smugglers and desert heat take advantage of the migrant. Some of the problems Hansen and others identify, e.g. fake identification, are not the fault of immigration, but rather, illegal immigration. Allow larger, realistic numbers in and you will not have to worry about people swimming the Rio Grande. Which, after all, is the humane and American thing to do. I can’t speak for you, but my ancestors were immigrants.

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a thoughtfully written book by a military historian and classics professor who takes a sane, careful look at how California and the entire western states and even the nation is changing as a result of almost-untrammeled illegal immigration. His concerns for the future are sobering indeed and on target. He writes of a burgeoning illegal population who assimilate in terms of wearing American clothes and even knowing about American cultural/entertainment icons but who have no real sense of what America has been and is. He insists there's plenty of blame to go around in terms of why the problem exists, and he warns of a future in which California and other states may be neither fish nor fowl, so to speak. He points out that since Mexico is so close, many of those who come here never really become assimilated.

This man is by no means racist, and he's not among the screamers who would shoot anything that moves north across the border regardless of the reason for the movement. His proposed solutions are thoughtful, workable, and so far quite untried.

This book is written from a somewhat conservative point of view, but I thoroughly enjoyed the author's writing style. This is absolutely not some academic boring monologue. It's filled with stories and examples, and it's really a quick read. If you think at all about the future that people like my grandchildren are growing into, this book needs to be among your nonfiction reads of the year.

[John Wiswell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book on illegal immigration I've seen so far. Hanson has a lot of powerful anecdotes, and a lot of conflicting interests. Living an area of the U.S. that is saturated with illegal immigrants, he's seen both the positive and the negative. When no one else will help him with his crops, he relied on some of them. Others stole his mail for credit information and used his field as a trash dump. Legal immigrant students struggled to pay tuition while illegal immigrant students breezed by on special aid and scholarships. There are so many contradictions and tough questions that the extreme left and extreme right on this issue ignore, and it seems they could only be put by someone who has been forced to feel both biases. He goes from economics to politics to cultural development to social criticism to grim forecasts of our likely future. It's a potent meditation on one of the most important issues facing our country.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, but very well-written essay, ostensibly about immigration from Mexico, but in fact about social change in California and the replacement of an assimilationist ethos by one of racial separatism. Hanson's actual target seems to be liberal biases in American education, and, as a professor of classics at Cal State Fresno, is particularly critical of Chicano studies and similar programs.
"[The] subjugation of race to culture is forever a fragile state, not a natural condition. Each day it erodes if not actively maintained. Race, chauvinism, ethnicity creep hourly back into social life if not battled by citizens of strength and vision. A few malicious people can undo the work of centuries. Thus, each time a university president, a small-time politican on the make, or a bien pensant liberal jouranlist chooses the easy path of separatism, he does a little part in turning us toward Rwanda or Yugoslavia. The work of cultural unity is of the ages; advancing racial and ethnic separatism is a gesture of the moment." (p. 122)
The final chapter considers the role that globalized popular culture might play in retarding separatism, though at the price of losing many of the strengths of the American culture that initially attracted the immigrants.

[Greg Peterson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a really disappointing book. I was expecting a historical narrative and analysis of the migration of Mexicans to California, especially since Hanson is a somewhat renown historian of ancient Rome and Greece. Instead this book is mainly Hanson's own personal stories (which is the best part of the book and I will get to later) and statistics. I don't agree with many of Hanson's arguments but what surprised me most was that he defended his claims with cheesy political one-liners I could have gotten from 30 minutes of CNN or Fox News.

Hanson's main arguments are against illegal immigration, attempts by leftists to assimilate America to Mexicans rather than harsh assimilation laws, and multiculturalism. I can't disagree with his wave of statistics how not learning English, having bilingual education, or Chicano Studies programs work to the economic detriment of Mexicans in California. I could really care less about that. What amused me is that his desire to educate and assimilate Mexicans for their own good shares a lot in common with the late 1800s desire to brutally civilize Native Americans that resulted in the genocide of many tribes.

I had three main problems with Hanson's argument. First, he believed immigrants to this country ought to assimilate to American culture because he believed it to be the most superior of all cultures where others (like Mexico) have failed. His evidence is the economic and military might of America and that this must be the greatest country because why would so many people be immigrating here. With that same logic I could say farming is the greatest job in the world because so many Mexicans are becoming farmers. What is more frustrating is that his argument is completely devoid of how history or environment has affected the "greatness" of some cultures and the "failure" of others.

Second, Hanson hate the idea of multiculturalism and the instead of Mexicanizing California, immigrants must assimilate to this general American culture. Compared to many people I have only studied a small part of American History, but I have enough awareness to notice that throughout American history and even today there are dozens of different cultures scatter in America, and the idea of one generic, white American culture is ignorant of our own history. What culture should immigrants assimilate to? Small farm-town California, Polish Chicago, Cuban Miami, Puerto Rican New York, New Orleans, Amish Pennsylvania....

My third problem is that I was hoping for some insight into what has been going on in Mexico for the past few hundred years that would cause such a mass exodus of people. The only (and brief) answers I got was the corrupt autocratic government (noting about hwy is was corrupt) and northern drug wars. Again no historical analysis, Hanson employs as much depth in his answers as a CNN soundbite.

The one thing I did like about this book and thought important was his won personal stories about being a farmer and living in a small agrarian community in Southern California that has changed dramatically over the years due to Mexican immigration. He expresses a true fear that his home will be transformed to something new, un-American, Third World-like. I really started to feel for the guy and I think his struggles with cultural conflict is that most important part of the book. Many people (including Hanson) have no sympathy when other people around the world fight against having their culture uprooted or changed, but when the same conflict happens in America, Cinco de Mayo parties, the Spanish language, Mexican flags, etc. are treated as viruses and the end of life as we know it. I appreciate the emotion in his writing and think that this fear Hanson portrays is more insightful than anything else he has to say

[Julian Abagond · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the first 42 pages but then had to stop.

It is a racist rant against Mexicans - that says racism against Mexicans is pretty much dead.

Hanson trades on the fact that he is a professor of history, but he does not seem to know who first settled North America (he says it was "northern Europeans"), who ruled Ireland during the potato famine (he seems to think it was the Irish), or why Chinese and Japanese immigration to California suddenly stopped. He even gets the date of 9/11 wrong.

[Susan Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this book was written in 2004 it is very pertinent to today with the flood of illegal immigration we are having now. It was a quick read and Mr. Hanson is spot on with his analysis. Loved it.

[Kkraemer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hanson is a well-known conservative here in California; however, his position is more nuanced than I had imagined from his reputation. His argument is that illegal immigration is causing terrible problems because it's so rampant, drawing from the most proximal of nations. He points out that the life of an immigrant is never easy: the first immigrants are often consigned to low paying, physically demanding jobs that lead nowhere. The next generation is challenged as well, but by later generations, language has been mastered, connections have been made, education has been gained, and ways of generating income have become both more numerous and more remunerative. Immigrants become assimilated into American culture and, at the same time, enrich the culture.

He says that this is not so in the current environment: English remains a second language (at best), connections are within a community that has few inroads beyond either illegal or hard, hard work, few graduate from high school, and assimilation doesn't happen. The sheer number of immigrants from Mexico, he says, guarantees that all remain Mexican, not Mexican-American and certainly not American, looking to their homeland and their youth for inspiration rather than to this country and the future.

He lays this argument out in a number of ways, by drawing upon his own experience as a student in an almost entirely Mexican-American school system (he is of Swedish and mixed European descent), by citing the experience of his childhood friends, by telling of current situations from both the illegal immigrant and the native born perspective, by citing statistics.

His argument is interesting and worth reading, and I found myself thinking differently as well as yelling back at his argument (he, like most of us, chooses the information that bolsters his side).

He holds in particular contempt the ethnic studies/Mexican pride promulgated by academics, believing that a rigorous Western education will serve students and immigrants better than what he calls "pseudo-academe."

He holds in particular respect his Mexican childhood friends, who have become local business owners, farmers, accountants, etc., examples of what it means to be "American," and he notes that the Armenians, Sikhs, Japanese, and "Okies" (many came to this part of California during the Dust Bowl and were held in deep contempt) have, over generations, come to take full part in American culture...at least in the Central Valley. He does not blink the terrible history of discrimination or hatred so common in the area.

An interesting argument, one worth parsing and considering. As a Californian, I appreciate such a look at one of our most pressing challenges, though I cannot completely agree with him.

In this era of loud repetition as a source of "truth," it's nice to read the reasoned argument of someone with whom I disagree...

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Victor Davis Hanson offers a short, semi-autobiographical assessment of the state of immigration issues/challenges in his home state, California. Hanson is a fourth-generation farmer, writer (http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/), classicist formerly on the faculty of Fresno State, and current fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institute, who brings all of those skills to bear upon the vexing conundrum of immigration, particularly looking at how Mexican immigrants are uniquely shaping California's culture.

His book moves between several important poles-a veteran fruit farmer that has interacted for decades with working class immigrants (legal and illegal); a sympathetic neighbor that regularly sees the cost of non-engagement of broader American culture by a percentage of more recent immigrants; a skeptical professor at a public university that suspects that immigration has become a weapon for university's ideology of race, ethnicity and culture; and an historical wordsmith that appreciates the importance of seeing questions in view of historical precedent.

Hanson surely gives pause on the rush to abandon patterns of immigrant integration that until very recently represented a central, controlling motif for thinking about immigration. Arguably, Mexican and Central American immigrants represent a newer challenge to that paradigm, but Hanson wonders persuasively whether the disengagement from an integrative approach to language (English), immigration process (ordered), educational standards (unapologetically high), etc. has not created perennial poverty and suffering. His is a sympathetic book, wanting his largely Hispanic town and area to thrive instead of continuously stumbling.

He also does not hesitate to state facts that bear repeating. America's fruit is largely picked by those at the edges of functional society. If we reform immigration and seek to rightly manage immigrant flows, many Americans will not be willing to do the sort of work presently done by immigrants from our southern borders at their minimum wages. Costs will necessarily increase. Further, looking carefully at the welfare net that immigrants are immediately ushered into upon coming to the US is also needed. Would the removal or serious curtailing of those reshape how eager some are to come to America?

Hanson is one of my favorite writers, his grasp of language, history, and culture is matched by few. This is a thoughtful, empathetic work of his.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have an opinion on any side about illegal immigration, or by whatever alternative name you may call it, you really need to read Mexifornia: A State of Becoming by author Victor Davis Hanson. Many would consider this book controversial, and that may be the case. But the author has decades of personal experience in central California having grown up there on his farm in Selma, CA. He shares what he has observed and experienced and has credibility as a noted military historian and as a professor at Fresno State. He details the evolution of immigration, legal and illegal, across our southern border and remembers that several decades ago people came to America, learned English, got their education or apprenticed in the trades, formed families, became pillars of the community as Judges, police, attorneys, accountants, teachers, and were proud to have become Americans. More recently it has become normal to come to America and move into communities with mostly other Hispanics, not bother with English or education, especially if illegal, and basically become day labor at low wages. The author notes that this sort of works for single males but is not conducive to families. Their common plans include making money to live and to send back to their family in their home country. The author notes that southern California has gradually shifted from high tech high wage companies to more low end, unskilled, low paid, day labor as more illegal immigration is tolerated and the future for the region is not very positive. If you are concerned about the impact of open borders and endless illegal immigration, this book will provide you with on-the-ground, up-front-and-personal facts and information by someone who has lived their all his life and has many friends in the various communities.

[Terry Cornell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for Californians, and anyone interested in the illegal immigration issue. Victor Hanson is a retired Fresno State Professor that grew up on his families farm in a Central Valley town, and still lives there today. His somewhat unique perspective helps him examine the issue from the negative effects on our state's resources and school systems, to the real need of having worker's ready to harvest his peaches and pick his grapes. He writes of the failure of California's primary and secondary education systems to keep up with the influx of immigrants, while at the same time Chicano/Latino Program College Professors preach the anti-assimilation message. Hanson makes the issue more personal than some, writing of some of his own experiences dealing with immigrants in his own community as well as the changes he has seen in his community over time. I discovered Professor Hanson has a blog, where he writes on political issues. http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/

[Jim Misko · Rating 5 out of 5]

MEXIFORNIA, A State of Becoming by Victor Davis Hanson, was recommended to me five years ago and I blew it off. Then the President’s move to handle illegal immigration by executive order (11/14) instead of having Congress pass laws—after mid-term elections when his party was trounced—I thought it was time to read it. Victor Davis Hanson is a bright man and his presentation of the immigration situation and how it has impacted California is clear and concise. It ought to be read by every person holding any political office in California. To that you could add opinion makers in other states affected by the large group of illegal immigrants who differ so much from the past waves of legal immigrants to our borders. It is sobering, personal, fits small communities and large alike and above all, the offered solutions could well solve California’s dilemma of how to deal with it.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening. The author understands both sides of the issue and is very adept at presenting his analysis in a truly readable manner. Great book.

[Rex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hanson argues that present-day California is a result of a two-way deal between the U.S. and Mexico. Mexico sends its poor to the U.S. while the U.S. profits from cheap labor. Politically, this is made possible by many Republican’s lust for cheap labor, and many Democrat’s thirst for an increased electoral base. The result is a constant wave of Latino immigrants that produces an unassimilated hybrid culture in the United States.

The book is largely anecdotal. I’d be interested in a book that provides a more rigorous analysis.

Stuff to chew on:

Immigration from Mexico is unique. Large migrant groups in America’s past came in single waves (e.g. Polish, Jewish, and Italian immigration). This led to rapid assimilation. However, immigration from Mexico is unique. Mexico’s proximity to the United States and lack of government reform (on both sides of the border) has resulted in a relatively steady influx of immigrants. This has reduced assimilation into the American culture.

Hanson argues that it is primarily Mexico’s poor that immigrate to the United States. My personal experience suggests that many immigrants are young, hard-working males; so I’d like to see real data that suggest that Mexican immigrants are of Mexico’s poorest classes.

Hanson avoids significant analysis of the economic effect of undocumented aliens, but acknowledges that the analysis is often contentious (I’d like to see a rigorous analysis somewhere). Specifically, does importing cheap labor outweigh the increased government costs associated with illegal immigrants?

Do Chicano studies professors--who often preach the doctrine of the oppressed--actually hurt rather than help Hispanics achieve their goals?

Affirmative action vs. reverse discrimination. Hanson asks if it fair for the second-generation immigrant Justin Gonzalez (American mother, Hispanic father) to be given preferential treatment over Justin Smith (American father, Hispanic mother).

Are open borders simply a safety valve that releases pressure for domestic reform in Mexico? Are the real winners of present-day immigration policy Mexico’s kleptocratic rulers?

From the standpoint of supporting the family as the primary structural unit of society, is it better to enact legislation that enables families with undocumented members to thrive in American society, or to enact laws that will, in effect, encourage families to remain in Mexico?

Is multiculturalism a good thing? Much of what is preached today about multiculturalism implies that all cultures are equal. Obviously, however, not all aspects of different cultures are of equal value. A couple questions: Is it better to demand rapid assimilation or encourage/permit the retention of Mexican customs? What can the immigrants learn from our culture? What can we learn from theirs? What should be the role of the U.S. in this assimilation process? Hanson argues for rapid assimilation and complains that instead of insisting on acculturation to favorable aspects of our society, we simply teach a side dish of each culture regardless of the intrinsic value of each aspect.

Where is the proper boundary between encouraging assimilation and providing accommodation? This extends to many realms: government-supplied Spanish interpreters, separate government forms, bilingual education, etc. To what extent does accommodation actually hurt an immigrant’s ability to achieve their goals?

Two-tiered legal system: What are the pros and cons of a making a separate legal system for illegal immigrants? What type of laws would apply to illegal immigrants? Who would make these laws?

Is it feasible for the U.S. to somehow demand assimilation without heightened border control?

[Joshua · Rating 1 out of 5]

Two parts wistfulness for America of the 1950s and 1960s, and 1 part veiled racism covered in the cloth of understanding because "I live with these people," this book claims to have a solution to a centuries-old problem that, even over ten years after its writing, has not added to the understanding of race relations in America. the beginning of the book love you in with reasonable interpretations history and the current status Mexican immigrants as perceived by the author. but slowly he takes that reasonableness and morphs it into the lions of an old man who can't stand to see the world around him change. what started out as an indictment of both parties and most of America in its treatment of immigrants slowly becomes the musings of a man whose mind hasn't left 1960. I should have realized in the introduction when he identifies himself as a Classics professor writing outside of his own discipline intrafusion to spend any amount of time doing actual scholarly research on the issue. obviously, that was my mistake. how do I read this book when I was younger I probably would not have gotten all the way through it because I would have gotten annoyed at the obvious preference of the author for the strict assimilation policy he seems to be supporting. how many of us actually want to see schools return to a 1960 model of forced assimilation and rote memorization of information? it is obvious to me that the author has little beyond his own personal experience to write about, and has a scribe a solution to the problem that only true nativists could support.

[The American Conservative]

'Victor Davis Hanson’s Mexifornia is the third best-seller on this immigration disaster in three years. (Hey! Maybe commercial publishers will—nah, fuhgeddaboutit.) In 2002, Michelle Malkin’s Invasion demonstrated that the U.S. admissions process was fundamentally flawed, regardless of what entry criteria were to be applied. In 2001, Patrick J. Buchanan’s Death of the West put U.S. immigration policy’s skew toward the Third World in the grand perspective of First World demographic and cultural decline.Mexifornia is a wonderful little book. It makes a distinctive contribution to the growing literature of immigration reform, which is inexorably eroding the ideological foundations of official immigration enthusiasm.'

Read the full review, "Unnatural Disaster," on our website:
http://www.theamericanconservative.co...

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mexifornia is a semi-autobiographical assessment of the cultural and economical impact of mass legal and illegal Mexican immigration into California. Through his shared experiences as a university professor and farmer, Victor Davis Hanson recounts how his personal and professional life as a native Californian has been both positively and negatively impacted by the various generations of Mexican immigration. In addition to immigration reform and tighter border security, Hanson stresses the importance of Mexican reintegration and assimilation into American culture to preserve the ideological foundation of the United States.

[Chris Csergei · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this book. Hanson provides a reasonable and fair evaluation of the state of immigration in California. He bring a wonderfully diverse perspective to this topic, being both a college professor and a farmer. He doesn't resort to divisive rhetoric or hide behind politic language. His arguments and concerns both challenged me and influenced my opinions on this topic. I could not recommend this book more.

[J.J. Valdez · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book promises an essay that is "part history, part political analysis, and part memoir". Instead I got 10 pages of interesting insight, 40 pages of history, and 100 pages of a white man bitching about how much better life was back in the day. His sources are few and far between, and he constantly makes opinionated assertions with only anecdotes as evidence. If you are interested in actually learning about illegal immigration, this is not the book you should pick up.

[Aleksandar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book seemed at first to be very politically incorrect, but after re-reading it and noting my own bias, it turned out to be a very honest account and a rather fearless analysis of topics I would not dare to discuss or have an opinion on. The questions raised and the explanations posed turned out to be rather interesting, and the handling of the sensitive issues was done with class and with obvious objectivity coming from lived experiences.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those calling this book racist either haven't cracked the cover or aren't reasonable and disagreement with them is "racism".

The racist accusation should be assuaged with the introduction if one is a reasonable human being. This author deals with illegal immigration in the most sensitive manner I've ever seen, likely because he lives and works in the area and with many immigrants, legal and not.

[Heather Downs · Rating 1 out of 5]

A poorly researched and singular view of the dymanics and consequences of undocumented immigration. Hanson wants to generalize his experience with immigration to the entire state of California. If you want to learn more about immigration, read Bean and Stevens, "America's Newcomers and the Dynamics of Diversity". Do not waste your time with this book!

[Amber Elaine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible, racist book.

[Ernie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Racist garbage.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have definitely mixed thoughts about the author of this book [1], and my thoughts and feelings about this book are probably about as positive as possible for this author's work.  The author shows himself as a simple California farmer and classics professor, struggling in his own quixotic way with the massive population expansion of illegal Mexican immigrants into his beloved state, which has had drastic and immensely negative consequences for the well-being of the state as a whole, even if the political elites have so far been able to shield themselves against it.  Reading this book, one gets the feeling that the author is trying to play up his populist appeal as much as possible by pointing out that it is out-of-touch political and economic elites that have combined to support illegal immigration at the expense of the common citizen of the country, no matter the color.  Part memoir and part political editorial spread out over around 150 or so pages, this book is definitely a worthwhile and quirky one, and anyone who wishes to say something intelligent about the immigration debate in contemporary American should give this book and its argument a serious look.

Given the short contents of this book, it is perhaps unsurprising that there are only a few chapters here.  After a preface and introduction, the author comments on what makes the current immigration problem with Mexico so much different than previous periods of mass immigration, which were more discrete than continuous and from a much further distance away, with a culture in the United States committed firmly to assimilation.  The author then looks at the universe of the illegal alien and points out how envy and discontent fester in that shadowy world.  The author then talks about the mind of the host and tries to get at what people are looking for from illegal immigrants--namely cheap labor (for business owners of various kinds) and reliable voters (for Democrats).  The author looks back to his own childhood in looking at the old simplicity that worked in getting immigrants acculturated and successful.  The author then turns his attention to the new multiculturalism and how it has totally failed to provide even a basic degree of education or potential for advancement to contemporary immigrants.  After this the author looks at popular culture and its potential to provide at least some insight into American culture before providing his own options that Americans should choose from in an epilogue.

There are a great many moments in this book that make the author appear a bit more human.  It is almost entertaining to read him complain of how he has to deal with grumpy and entitled immigrants who disrespect property rights and seem entirely unfamiliar with the golden rule or how it is to be applied in respecting others as you wish for respect yourself.  I happened to find the book a mixture between humorous and poignant while always remaining pointed.  By and large, I happen to agree with the author's analysis, which is worth something.  It is amazing how positively one can think and feel of a Victor Davis Hanson book--not something I am used to thinking or feeling--when one's positive feelings come from agreement between reader and writer.  For those who disagree with this book's arguments, I wonder how the human touch of Hanson as a small-time farmer will influence the perception that people have of the book, and if the populist touches of the author will mean to anyone who is outside of the crowd of those who are guarded at best about the issue of America's contemporary attitudes towards immigration and our lack of interest in assimilation.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a resident of southern California's Central Valley, Hanson has lived through the social changes stemming from Hispanic immigration that have unfolded since he was a child. He contrasts the Mexican farm worker immigrants of his childhood with their children and more recent arrivals.

His thesis is that the shift from cultural assimilation of Mexican immigrants (the social framework when he grew up in the 60's) to today's pattern of separate multiculturalism (as distinct from multiracial blending) has been a disaster that has increased unhappiness in immigrants and residents as well. Consequences include crime, racial resentment on both sides, low rates of high school graduation, and stubborn poverty rather than 'moving up' as with the melting-pot model. Rather than creating a ladder to middle-class status and pride in American citizenship, the recent model encourages apartheid.

He attributes this failure to a number of players, especially the 'race industry' like La Raza, sycophantic University Presidents and administrators who were either misguided or too timid to stand up to pressures from special interests, the Mexican federal government that benefits in a number of ways from the current situation, pandering state and national politicians, and a superficial media. He never blames the immigrants who work hard at menial and low-paying labor. The Epilogue presents a number of scenarios about where Southern California might be heading over the next few decades, based on choices that will be made regarding immigration, education, and cultural integration.

I'm familiar with VDH as an insightful and convincing writer who is syndicated to various websites, but this is the first book of his that I have read. He teaches Classics in the California state university system, so he'll sometimes refer to parallels of ancient Greece or Rome. This book is a mix of social and economic history and personal memoir. He's at his best when he challenges the assumptions behind multiculturalism; on the other hand, I felt that sometimes he relies too much on personal anecdotes to draw broader conclusions.

"Yet through multiculturalism, cultural relativism and s therapeutic curriculum our schools often promote the very values from which new immigrants are fleeing--tribalism, statism, and group rather than individual interests. If taken to heart, such ideas lead our new arrivals to the postulates that cause abject failure in California: "My home buddies are my only friends"; "The school has failed to help me"; "Chicanos aren't treated right and need to stick together."

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting take on the southern US border issues from a man who has grown up right in the middle of the action. There are several things I had not given much thought to how they play out.
1. Multiculturalism - Why would I need to assimilate if each culture has equal value?
In this case the immigrant elders who came long years ago and built their family with hard work is not honored in their own family, they are now only a part of past oppression. (p. 6)
2. The "unintended" effects of distributing CA driver's licenses to all. "One of the most fascinating aspects of the entire immigration fiasco is the unspoken logic of creating an alternate universe for the illegal alien, in which our long-honored rules and statutes do not apply - a separate code of jurisprudence for millions who, ipso facto, have broken the old law by their unlawful entry into America." (p. 65-66). At the point of time that the driver is stopped for unsafe driving or is involved in an accident, the information on the license is discovered to be a fraudulent name connected to a fraudulent address so no recourse exists for the damages to car or body of the wronged.
3. Romanticizing the past of all civilizations.
We are all humans, not God, and the truth is somewhere in between. George Washington was not perfect, the Aztecs were brutal, the Mexican Government treated the Indians (Apaches) just as bad as the whites, offering government bounty for scalps of Apache men, women and children, and the Chinese who immigrated to Mexico to avoid the US stringent restrictions experienced theft, rape and murder by Mexicans abetted by their government.
4. Mexican/Chicano studies.
After 30 years of these classes with a "now growing third generation of 1/4 or 1/2 and full Hispanics who speak no Spanish and have never been to Mexico", there has been no evolution in the subject matter. There is a huge list of Chicano studies, but only 1 class on the US Civil War and none on the American Revolution. Why do you want to "denigrate a system that has given them so much." (p. 105,106)

When you study history, you will come to realize that all immigrants faced the same hurdles of racism, hatred, fear, and attacks on their way to inclusion in common society. Will it be easier in a society that now very much "me first", with little allowed input into how we all would be be better off if we obtained better natures? Each of us holds the key to that answer.

[Wanda Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Victor Davis Hanson has written one of the best books on the immigration problem at our borders that I have read. He gives a very fair and balanced assessment of the issues as he has lived his entire life on a farm in Selma, California, a farm that has been in his family for over 130 years. Hanson worked side by side with Hispanics, went to school with them, was neighbors with them, and now teaches them. Several members of his family are married to Hispanics. including his twin brother who married an illegal. He tells the story from both sides and he actually gives advice on how to solve the problem. This book was originally written in 2003 and Hanson wrote a new forward to it in 2007. With over ten years since his update the problem has only gotten worse at the border in California and much of what Hanson predicted has come to pass. As Hanson stresses throughout the book, the problem is not with the Hispanic people but rather with mass immigration and the failure to Americanize the people coming into this country. Instead of acclimating Hispanics to our culture our educational system supports the culture of the immigrants. He mentioned that in 2003 that Santa Barbara University had over 60 courses for Hispanic culture but only one for the Civil War and two for WWII. I am sure those numbers are far worse today. He describes a system that is so thoroughly broken that the only way to fix it is to close the borders and initiate a program to help assimilate the people who are here and who will continue to come. It is interesting to note that at the time this book was written it was the Democrats who were pushing hard for a wall and stated that a 750 mile wall wouldn't be enough and that they wanted the entire 1950 miles covered with a wall. How things change. There are so many good parts in this book but one quote stands out, "If Mexico had not been contiguous to the United States, if migrants had only come in the thousands, not millions, if proclaimed advocates on campus and in the media had been honest and responsible folk and if this had remained an America of the melting pot rather than the separatist culture of the 1980s and 1990s, then, I think, we would have fewer problems with race culture and immigration. But that is a lot of ifs."