Common Cents: Immigration and Western values
By Scott Dittrich, Columnist · Sun Nov 15 2026
The "mostly peaceful" protests in France and now other Euro zone countries should be a wake-up call for us. While the original student complaints may have been related to deteriorating schools stressed by the many immigrants crowding classrooms, the riots now taking place have a distinct Marxist/Jihadist character. France has had a variety of socialist policies as well as open borders for years, as has England. Politicians in both countries have been unwilling to stand against Islamist groups for fear of being labeled racist and, more insidious, fear of offending a growing voting block.
That the riots occurred when in the U.S. DSA candidates are promoting many of the same programs is instructive. The rioters complain about inflation and affordability but refuse to give up their government-paid health care, early retirement, month-long paid vacations, or rules that hamstring forming a new business. These are all policies that are the core of DSA politicians like AOC, Zoran Mamdani, and Abdul El-Sayed. France has, as Margaret Thatcher famously warned, "run out of other people's money.” To put this in perspective, 20 years ago Europe's GDP was roughly 10% higher than the U.S. Today it is 30% less and the gap is widening. This is the failure of socialism, which inherently is anti-growth. Free market capitalism has allowed the U.S. to surge ahead in productivity, technology, medical advancement, and military preparedness.
Identifying the rioters as anti-Western Islamists will immediately result in racist charges, but the truth of the burnings and looting is not religion per se, but people who have no interest in integrating Western values into their lives. They want their own schools where kids can be taught that our Western values are an anathema, schools that preach hate for America (and of course for Israel). England even has allowed sharia law courts to rule in certain areas. Like other immigrants, those from Muslim countries come to France, Germany, the UK, and the U.S. because their own countries offer so few opportunities. The free education and welfare benefits offered in Western countries simply provides a better life. In France, most people from Muslim countries remain in segregated communities where the police dare not enter. Even in America, we have seen such communities, as recent fraud in Minnesota has revealed, and, like in Europe, we also see that politicians there were afraid to investigate and stop fraudulent and illegal welfare scams. Many who choose not to assimilate reject the capitalism that allowed such largess. Anyone who thinks this is alarmist or racist should look at the videos Hamas terrorists proudly shot on Oct. 7, 2023, though I warn you that what you will see will leave lasting nightmares: women brutally gang-raped, children killed in the most horrific ways in front of their parents, and dogs and cats slaughtered for no reason, all the while the terrorists perpetrators smiling for their cameras. To be clear, such people reject Western literature, history, and values such as free speech, freedom of (or from) religion, and tolerance of sexual preference (in many countries punishable by death). Believe them when they chant "death to America" and "death to Israel." This is their goal.
We in the U.S. dodged a bullet when the Biden administration allowed up to 20 million people to cross into the U.S. when he opened our southern border in an attempt to tilt voting. We were fortunate, however, that most who came here were from Mexico and Central America, where Western values predominate. These "illegals" flooded in to obtain opportunity to work for a better life for their families and be free from the cartels and gang violence in their home countries, violence that stems our own insatiable demand for recreational drugs. Most of these illegal immigrants are otherwise law-abiding men and women who do have Western values, people who could become good American citizens. But since there was no vetting, there were also bad people from countries like Syria and Iran as well as outright criminals. Why many on the left are opposed to authorities arresting murders, rapists, and gang members is just stupid and ignores that the gangs mostly prey on other immigrants. There were few such protests when President Obama deported nearly 4 million undocumented immigrants, so I suspect these protests have much to do with hating Trump.
But equally mysterious is why many on the right want to deport people who have committed no crime other than crossing the border without authorization. With our falling birth rate — now standing at 1.6 babies per woman and falling — we need workers, workers who will pay social security taxes for future retirees. The president is noted for being a dealmaker, and there is a deal here that he should embrace. Allow illegals who have committed no crimes for five years to apply for a green card. Make the application fee $10,000. This could generate $200 billion. We would require people to learn English, pay taxes, stay out of jail, and pledge allegiance to the United States of America.
As for Malibu, we should reconsider our Sanctuary City policy. When first adopted, we were considering folks who had done nothing wrong other than not having documents. But somehow in California this has metastasized into protecting the worst criminals. Malibu should redefine our policy to ensure that such bad people are punished and deported, while remaining in effect for others, thus providing a common-sense model for other cities.