“Houston, We Have A Problem!” Jose Hernandez, Anchor Baby Astronaut, Agitates For Amnesty

An interesting post by Allan Wall of www.vdare.com about an American trained astronaut announcing his loyalty to another nation.

“Houston, We Have A Problem!” Jose Hernandez, Anchor Baby Astronaut, Agitates For Amnesty

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Nine Americans of Hispanic ancestry have actually flown to space. Only four of them were of Mexican ancestry. Four were naturalized Americans born in other countries. The nine: the aforementioned Franklin Chang—Diaz; Sidney Gutierrez (the first U.S.-born Hispanic in space); Ellen Ochoa (the first female Hispanic in space); the Spanish-born Michael Lopez-Alegria (first astronaut actually born in Spain); Carlos I Noriega (the first Peruvian-born astronaut); John "Danny" Olivas; George D. Zamka (Polish/Colombian ancestry); Joseph M. Acaba (first person of Puerto Rican ancestry in space ); and finally, Jose Hernandez.
Which brings us to the latest space shuttle mission, STS-128, which took place from August 28th to September 11th. It was the first space mission to carry two Hispanics—Danny Olivas and Jose Hernandez. (Here’s the walkout photo with the seven crew members—Olivas is at the back, Hernandez is the second astronaut in the left column.)
For Danny Olivas, a third-generation American, it was his second space flight. He made some obligatory "Hispanic" statements, but seemed mostly focused on the mission.
But the publicity revolving around Jose Hernandez was almost exclusively focused on his "Mexican" identity. As reported by Julie Watson in the Associated Press:
"Millions in Mexico watched Hernandez's mission daily on Televisa, as well as following it on Twitter, where his dispatches appeared in English and Spanish. Hernandez also danced salsa, munched burritos and discussed Mexico's World Cup aspirations while floating in space aboard the shuttle Discovery.
“Past NASA space missions barely got a mention on Mexican newscasts." [U.S. Astronaut Says Legalize Undocumented Mexicans, Julie Watson, AP, September 14, 2009]
Yes, the U.S-born Hernandez was a big hit in Mexico—even getting an invitation to visit President Calderon in Mexico City.
You’ve only read this on VDARE.COM, although you work it out if you read between the lines of the MSM reporting: astronaut Jose Hernandez was an "anchor baby", whose automatic U.S. citizenship derived exclusively from the fact that he was born on U.S. soil—to illegal alien parents.
Hernandez´ parents, Salvador Hernandez and Julia Moreno (they were married but in Mexico the wife doesn’t officially take her husband’s surname) entered the U.S. illegally in 1957 and traveled about as migrant farm workers. Little Jose was born in 1962.
By 1969, when Jose was 7, Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez had somehow secured their green cards, about the time they settled in Stockton. That means that they were still illegal aliens when Jose was born—thus making him an anchor baby.
As we see in the case of Jose Hernandez, the mere fact someone is born on U.S. soil doesn’t mean they will identify as an American. Growing up, Jose Hernandez spent several months a year in the state of Michoacan, Mexico. And—get this—he didn’t even learn English until he was 12!
Hernandez and his sister and two brothers worked with their parents as migrant workers in California. All the evidence indicates that Hernandez’ parents had a good work ethic and instilled it in their children. Apparently, they also emphasized the importance of education: Hernandez went on to obtain a good education.
That’s all great. But it doesn’t answer they key question—does that make such people Americans?
Apologists for illegal immigration constantly emphasize the illegals’ alleged work ethic, and success stories like those of Hernandez. For example, Art Pedroza [Email him] on the Orange Juice Blog says of the latest Hispanic spaceman: "This man is proof positive that Latino immigrants can do anything that other Americans can do. Sorry haters! You are wrong about immigrants again. "
But let’s assume for a moment, just for the sake of argument, that all illegal aliens—putting aside the fact that they entered the U.S. illegally—are indeed great people. Even if they were, that still wouldn’t make them Americans! Nor, in many cases, their anchor baby children!
Jose Hernandez is apparently a competent astronaut, a family man, and all-around nice guy. Nevertheless, despite being U.S.-born, he clearly does not identify with the United States of America, but with Mexico.
Hernandez had two official astronaut photos taken. One photo has the American flag in the background. But in the other photo , now appearing on the Mexican space agency website, he has the U.S. and Mexican flags behind him.
Interesting. When Rodolfo Neri went to space, he was photographed with the Mexican flag because he was from Mexico. But Jose Hernandez was born in the U.S.A.—remember?

Consider this. Hernandez was formally educated in the United States, was trained and sent to space by NASA—and yet the Mexican president gushes on about how this is a great credit to Mexico. Why?

If it’s still not obvious where Hernandez’ loyalty lies, consider an interview he had with ¡Ahora Sí! ("El periódico en español líder en el Centro de Texas"—"The Leading Spanish Newspaper of Central Texas").
In De Campesino a Astronaut (From Peasant to Astronaut) [September 18, 2009]. Hernandez was asked point blank "Which (of the two, U.S. or Mexico) do you consider your fatherland?"
Hernandez answered unequivocally:
"I feel more Mexican than American. [AW: my emphasis] I am from California because I was born in the summer, but half of my siblings were born in La Piedad, Michoacan."
So there you go. The children in his family were born in the U.S. or Mexico based upon where they were at the time. Hernandez happened to have been born in the U.S., but he identifies with Mexico, despite the fact that he owes his professional success (and paid trip to space) to the United States.
Remember that Hernandez is only one of millions of anchor babies. How many feel the same way the Anchor Baby Astronaut does?
My fellow Americans, in the words of a popular expression associated with the space program: "HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM".

American citizen Allan Wall (email him) recently moved back to the U.S.A. after many years residing in Mexico. In 2005, Allan served a tour of duty in Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM articles are archived here; his Mexidata.info articles are archived here and his website is here.