Thread: "Foreign-born" joins list of border-issue buzzword

Sr. Reporter: "Foreign-born" joins list of border-issue buzzwords (updated)
August 18, 2010 2:30 pm
Matt York / The Associated Press 2007

As the debate over border issues and immigration has escalated this year, a few words and phrases have begun jumping out at me.

They're border buzzwords that mean, or are intended to mean, more than they seem. They pack an emotional or intellectual punch greater than their face value. Here's my list so far, with a new addition from this week's news (Beware: most definitions here employ sarcasm):

• Amnesty: If an immigration proposal involves something other than guns and barricades, it is "amnesty," which puts it beyond discussion.

• Cartel: When "drug trafficker" isn't scary enough, the word "cartel" injects more fear into discussions of the illegal drug trade. (The word's use in this context is actually wrong by the usual definition, which focuses on price-fixing.)

• Comprehensive: This word, as in "comprehensive immigration reform," suggests a real solution where none lies, but it certainly doesn't include amnesty!

• Illegal: What don't you understand about this word??!! It means there is a simple solution to immigration issues involving armed men and fences.

• Nativist: As much as you protest that you're only talking about illegal immigrants, you're still a nativist. Which really means a racist and ejects you from the debate.

• Sinaloan: A bad guy isn't really bad unless he's Sinaloan bad. The Pinal County sheriff's spokesman initially said that a man who shot at a deputy spoke with a "Sinaloan accent."

• Spillover: There is no Mexico, there is no United States. Therefore beheadings and other extreme violence from Mexico will enter the United States. Some day. For sure. If you just keep waiting.

• Undocumented: Illegal.

And today's phrase.....

• Foreign born: This is a favorite of Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, in cases where an illegal really isn't illegal but might as well be.

Babeu most recently used the phrase yesterday in describing Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Sandoval, a certifiable bad guy who exchanged gunfire with deputies Monday. Since Gonzalez-Sandoval has a green card, he isn't really illegal, so he's "foreign born."

Babeu (video) and his chief deputy Steve Henry also used the phrase to describe those who allegedly threatened the sheriff's life. They called these people "foreign born criminals."

What do you think of the list? Please add your own in the comments.

Update: Here's Sheriff Babeu's explanation of his use of the phrase "foreign-born" in the context of Gonzalez-Sandoval's case

"I'm against any repeat and dangerous criminal. Pointing out the fact that this suspect is foreign born shows how screwed up our immigration policies are in America. My Deputies and local officers have done our part and repeatedly arrested this foreign born criminal. Why is Jose Sandoval still in our country with any legal standing? He should have been deported a long time ago. Any legal standing in our country ends after repeat criminal offenses and convictions. Since DOJ Judge Bruce Taylor released Jose Sandoval, he has continued to break laws, fled from my Deputies at speeds over 100-mph and been in a running gunfight with two of my Deputies. Judge Bruce Taylor has to be held accountable for releasing, rather than deporting this criminal."

Posted in Senor-reporter on Wednesday, August 18, 2010 2:30 pm Updated: 3:24 pm.

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Good border fence picture @

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