Thread: Beware of the two Ds in immigration reform

Beware of the two Ds in immigration reform
(http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beac ... S1.article)

May 26, 2007


Last week, a bipartisan committee in the U.S. Senate reached a compromise on an immigration reform bill. The proposed bill is remarkable in scope and complexity, covering tougher border controls, employer sanctions, requirements for ensuring assimilation and a guest worker program with a path to citizenship.

The immediate reaction was negative. This is a good sign. Any immigration bill that angers everyone is probably a reasonable compromise.

I don't have any idea what the outcome of that proposal will be, but one thing is certain: Hispanics are going to feel under attack as heated debate swirls around us. We've been down this street before with regard to illegal immigration. Inevitably, the two D's -- demagoguery and demonizing -- will come into play.

Demagoguery is the impassioned appeal to the prejudices and emotions of people. It has become the tried-and-true path to gain the political support of the anti-immigration crowd. Similarly, demonizing has become a cornerstone for those who are strongly outspoken about illegal immigration. They blame every social or economic problem on illegal immigrants. Demonizing makes illegal immigrants evil and easier to despise.

Unfortunately, the two D's work together extremely well. How well was shown in two Beacon News columns published recently. The first column was written by State Sen. Chris Lauzen ("Protest a strange way to show gratitude," Legislative Perspective, May 6). The column's focus was on a state law that grants illegal immigrants in-state college tuition rates as long as they meet basic residency requirements and agree to pursue U.S. citizenship.

It is certainly a reasonable question to ask whether this is a good or bad policy to follow. But the column wasn't written to rationally discuss the issue; instead, it was written in a way to incite anger and indignation. Paying in-state tuition rates was cleverly converted into a 75 percent tuition discount as though it were a special giveaway just for illegal immigrants. The fact that they pay the same tuition as any other student who meets state residence requirements was conveniently not explained. To clarify, I don't have a problem with bringing the in-state tuition process into question. I do have a problem with deliberately slanting it to provoke anger, resentment and backlash.

The second column, a personal perspective by Valley Voice columnist Donna Richardson ("Time to send a message on illegal immigration," May 17), provided the indignation and outrage Lauzen was fishing for. The column also detailed a list of the same ole' tired and worn solutions the anti-immigration crowd has been clamoring about for several years.

There was one new wrinkle to that list, however. We are apparently supposed to serve notice that trespassers crossing our (Mexican) border will be shot. That's right, shot. Evidently, one solution to in-state college tuition concerns and other illegal immigrant problems is to start shooting people. I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I read something like that. Part of me wants to ridicule the notion by asking whether it's OK to print the no-trespass signs in Spanish, too, so that illegal immigrants will at least know why they are being shot. Another part of me cringes at the realization that some people are so angry about illegal immigration they envision my country, the United States of America, using 1970 East Germany as a role model.

In the end, I realize it's just the two Ds at work, and working together all too well. Provoking and demonizing are sure-fire recipes for getting some people to think that shooting a few illegal immigrants might be a good policy to follow.

Fortunately, the people who think that way are in a vocal, but tiny minority. The use of deadly strength to enforce our borders is a suggestion that's DOA. But the underlying anger and resentment directed against illegal immigrants still ends up hitting all Hispanics.

Immigration opponents are always quick to claim that only illegal immigrants are at issue, and they welcome the rest of us with open, not loaded arms. We know better. The difference between illegal immigrant and legal resident is merely official documentation, nothing more. Assume that all of those illegal immigrants magically disappeared. All the problems with crime, drugs, welfare, high taxes and job losses would still be around. So would the resentment and anger that the anti-immigrant crowd constantly voices today.

The closing admonition in Lauzen's column exposes the true feelings of the anti-immigrant crowd. It blatantly asserts, "American-Hispanics, native and immigrant, (both legal and illegal) are at a crossroads." Excuse me? I thought this was only about illegal immigrants. I'm having a little problem trying to figure out how this issue isn't about race.

I am an American of Mexican heritage, and I am not facing any crossroads. I doubt many other Americans of Hispanic ancestry appreciate being told they face a crossroads because of all the immigration problems. Caught in crossfire, yes; facing a crossroads, no.

Our nation, however, is certainly stuck at the crossroads of immigration control. We've been stuck there far too long. It's time to find a compromise, adopt it, and move on. Hopefully, the practitioners of the two Ds will be nothing more than speed bumps along the way.

emily@saltijeral-demar.org



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http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beac ... S1.article

Originally Posted by jimpasz

Beware of the two Ds in immigration reform
(http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beac ... S1.article)

May 26, 2007

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I'm having a little problem trying to figure out how this issue isn't about race.
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emily@saltijeral-demar.org



© Copyright 2007 Sun-Times News Group | Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beac ... S1.article

If it isn't about race, why are the racist groups like La Raza and MEChA are for it?