illegal immigrants. They spoke of growingrnareas of their communities wherernthey were not welcome—indeed, wherernthey feared to go. Often, they complained,rnauthorihes would side with illegalsrnagainst Americans.rnI particularly remember the statementrnof a woman who said that we were facingrna new breed of illegal aliens. In the past,rnmost were agricultural workers. Now,rnshe said, many of them were just lowliferntypes, up to no good.rnI wondered why I was not hearing anyrnof this from the national media. Severalrnyears would pass, in fact, before the “impactrnpress” would grudgingly take nodcernof what was happening in California.rnOne thing still rarely reported is ethnicrncleansing. It may seem a harsh term tornapply here in America, but it accuratelyrndescribes the expulsion of Americansrnfrom their communities by illegal aliens.rnThe worst examples are in California,rnbut contacts in other states, from Washingtonrnto Arkansas, have related similarrnaccounts.rnThough the details differ, all the storiesrnroughly go as follows; Several familiesrnof illegals move into a house or housesrnon a block. Our laws on safety andrnhygiene usually forbid such crowding,rnbut for some reason, when these foreignersrnare involved, the laws aren’t enforced.rnMaybe officials fear that Latino activistsrnwill call them racists.rnI spoke with a former code inspector inrnOrange County, California, who had lostrnher job for trying to enforce the codes inrnneighborhoods where illegals had settled.rnAlong with code-breaking, the uninvitedrnaliens get away with driving uninsuredrncars and many other violations. Summingrnup the situation, a lady living inrnWashington State’s Yakima Valley observed:rn”Here, there’s one law for Americansrnand one for Mexicans.” The lastrntime I heard from her, she was planningrnto move to Idaho.rnOnce the illegals move in, the)’ oftenrnmake their presence felt with loud musicrnthrough the night and junk cars in thernfront yard. A Mexican-American manrntold me that they may take it as a challengernto fight if you politely ask them torncurb their ways. After dealing with themrnfor a long time, he concluded that theyrncome here mainly for money and havernlittle love for America. It’s an attitudernthey pass on to their children, quite a fewrnof whom are U.S. citizens by reason ofrnbirth on our soil. “I know it’s wrong,” hernconfessed to me, “but sometimes I haternthem.”rnAs time goes on, more Americans sellrntheir homes and leave, and more andrnmore families of illegals show up to buyrnthem. Crime increases, and graffiti appearsrneverywhere. The handwriting onrnthe wall says it’s time for the remainingrnnatives to sell at a loss and get out.rnI had the opportunity to see the consequencesrnof ethnic cleansing, Californiastyle,rnwhen I visited Orange County a fewrnyears ago. Ben Seeley, a well-known borderrncontrol activist in the state, took mernon a guided auto tour of Santa Ana. Hernpointed to neighborhood after neighborhoodrnthat had been home to workingclassrnand middle-class Americans just arnfew years before. To one degree or another,rnthey bore the marks of their newrnowners: Spanish signs, graffiti, andrntoughs hanging out on street corners —rngang members, Ben told me.rnA few years back, I got to see bordercrossingrnillegals face to face on a tourrnconducted by the Border Patrol throughrnthe Imperial Beach sector of the border,rnsouth of San Diego. As we stood near thernmetal border wall (about 12 feet high),rnMexicans perched on top of it, males inrntheir late teens and early 20’s. Theyrnyelled insults, clowned around, andrntossed pebbles at us. One yelled to me inrnEnglish that I could take his picture for arndollar.rnWe moved on. One lone patrolmanrnremained at the wall. About 30 minutesrnlater, word came over the radio to our escortrnthat the Mexicans on the wall hadrnjumped down on the U.S. side and startedrnrunning. There was nothing the lonernpatrolman could do about it.rnOur escort, a well-built man in his earlyrn30’s, said that the illegals were becomingrnmuch more aggressive. Not long before,rnhe’d had a struggle with one and wasrnpulled into a ditch full of sewage beforernsubduing him. I respected his efforts, butrnI felt sad that the government he servedrnwas obviously just going through the motionsrnof trying to control the border.rn(During the past few )’ears, with greatrnpublicity, Washington has finally devotedrnthe resources necessary to control thernImperial Beach sector. But this successrnhas simply diverted most of the flow of illegalsrnto the east.rnLater that evening, we toured the holdingrnpen where captured illegals were processed.rnThey were in good spirits, morernthan a few with a cocksure arrogance.rnThey knew they would be released acrossrnthe border soon and could try again to enterrnthe United States, maybe even thatrnsame night. All appeared well fed andrnreasonably well dressed. Quite often,rncontrary to the media image, illegals arernnot desperately poor. The truly impoverishedrngenerally lack the means andrnstamina to undertake a long migration.rnAfter returning from California, Irnmentioned the illegals’ obvious contemptrnfor America to Donald Huddle, anrneconomist who specializes in immigration.rn”Why shouldn’t they have contempt?”rnhe replied. “We’ve earned it.”rnHe went on to explain that illegals, despiterntheir reputation for hard work, arernnot necessarily honest. “Where theyrncome from,” said Huddle, “you can bernhard-working and dishonest.”rnI mentioned Huddle’s observation to arnretired Border Patrol veteran, and hernagreed. Most illegal immigrants, he toldrnme, get involved in at least some kind ofrnpetty crime, shoplifting being the mostrncommon. A considerable number commitrnmajor crimes.rnWhere is all this leading? Two telephonernconversations I had with natives ofrnMexico may give us some idea. One wasrnwith a woman who called after readingrnsome of our foundation’s material whichrndemanded effective action against illegalrnimmigration. In flawless English, shernidentified herself as a Mexican and expressedrngreat anger over our position.rnAfter calling me a racist, she told mernthat she hated “Europeans” and that herrnpeople would take over the Southwestrnbecause “We have babies, and yourndon’t.” In that case, I told her, she shouldrnat least be grateful to our government forrnthe generous subsidies it provides, startingrnwith free pregnancy care and deliveryrnto illegal alien mothers. She didn’t appreciaternmy attempt at humor.rnThe other caller makes me recall whatrnI said earlier about illegal immigrantsrnwith hearts of gold. But his stor)’ was notrnone that the poster propagandists wouldrncare to report. He began by telling mernthat he came to the United States illegallyrnas a child. He, too, had run acrossrnsome of our material. Unlike the woman,rnhe agreed with it.rnAfter arriving here, this man explained,rnhe was adopted by an Americanrnfamily and brought up to respect America.rnHe said he was sorr)’ for violating ourrnlaws and wanted to make up for it. Hernhad obtained amnesty, served in thernArmed Forces, and wanted to be a goodrncitizen,rn”Here in Los Angeles,” he said, “I seern48/CHRONICLESrnrnrn