South SFV Today

Victor Davis Hanson, in his book, “Mexifornia,” said illegal immigration has been detrimental to both American and other culture and has led to "a social tragedy."

Published in 2003, “Mexifornia" is about how California changed in the years leading up to publication, both politically and culturally. The book uses history and personal memoir in its narrative.

Following is the excerpt from “Mexifornia”:

Since roughly 1970, the evolving concept of multicultural-ism—which holds that Western civilization merits no special consideration inasmuch as all cultures are of equal merit—has proved to be the force-multiplier of illegal immigration from Mexico. It turns a stubborn problem of assimilation into a social tragedy stretching across generations. Almost every well-intended and enlightened gesture designed to help immigrants in the last three decades—de facto open borders, bilingual education, new state welfare programs, the affirmation of a hyphenated identity, a sweeping revisionism in southwestern American history—has either failed to ensure economic parity or thwarted the processes of assimilation. Almost everything stern and uncompromising that for two centuries has helped other immigrants to the United States—language immersion, autonomy from government assistance, rapid assumption of an American identity, and eager acceptance of mainstream American culture—has either been discounted as passé or embraced only halfheartedly.

"Mexifornia" can be found on Encounter Books' website.  

Hanson is a historian, classicist, and commentator. He is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and professor emeritus of classics at California State University, Fresno. Hanson has written extensively on ancient warfare, military history, and contemporary politics. He authored several books, including "The Western Way of War" and "Carnage and Culture." Hanson has been a columnist for various publications and has appeared as a commentator on television and radio programs.