PD: I agree that not all anti-immigrant types are racist. But it makes me wonder when their main argument is that “they come here to get public services for free”. I’m also a bit disappointed that an otherwise smart Piggingtonian like you listens to Limbaugh.

I would be really surprised if the Mexican laws expressly disallow bilingual education. Probably there’s none in Mexico because (1) they can’t afford it, and (2) there’s no need for it. Regarding buying waterfront property, that is standard in many countries that are small or weak (compared to the USA) and who fear that foreigners can buy a big chunk of land and then secede (by the way, that’s pretty much how Mexico lost Texas).

There are no food stamps for foreigners in Mexico? That’s the case in the USA also, even if the anti-immigrants say otherwise. In any case, developing countries have negligible budgets for this type of subsidies, which are directed to the truly indigent. Many of the other “we don’t have it for foreigners” items listed in Limbaugh’s diatribe are things that most developing countries simply don’t have for anybody b/c they can’t afford them. And restrictions on certain types of property ownership simply reflect the fact that Mexico lost 50% of its territory in the 1850s.

Like Micheel Moore at the opposite end of the political spectrum, Limbaugh stretches and twists the truth to make his point. The problem I see is that he’s indirectly inciting many to hate, or to join vigilante groups.