Most people I meet are not concerned exclusively with illegal immigrants; they are concerned mostly with Hispanic and Asian immigrants — period. Is this true outside of Benton County ? Yes. Pat Buchanan, product of oncedespised Irish immigrants, had a column that ran in this paper on May 5 titled, “ The Dark Side of Diversity, ” in which he blamed the Virginia Tech shooting on immigration. Not “ illegal” immigration, mind you, but immigration in general. Buchanan attacks this “ invasion” of people who cannot or will not “ assimilate. ” This group of “ strangers, ” he argues, threatens all of our most cherished values. Does any of this sound familiar ? Buchanan is not alone. Bigoted racists like him are all over the “ illegal” immigrant issue. That’s why one can barely talk about “ illegals” without hearing some paranoid rant about making English our official language. Racism is everywhere in the immigrant debate. It always has been.