Thread: Lou Dobbs rides immigration issue to fame and fortune

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June 22, 2006


Ruben Navarrette
Lou Dobbs rides immigration issue to fame and fortune
June 22, 2006


SAN DIEGO -- Lou Dobbs was spoiling for a fight. I know, because he wanted to fight with me.
It's not every day that I'm face to face with the person that many Americans trust on the immigration issue. According to a recent poll published in The Washington Post, 37 percent of Americans trust Dobbs on immigration while 31 percent trust President Bush. The rest were undecided.
The 37 percent in Dobbs' corner probably don't include many of the Hispanic journalists who came together last week in Fort Lauderdale for the 24th annual conference of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ). As the nation's largest gathering of print and broadcast journalists, the conference drew more than 1,200 people. That's not a bad showing considering that there are so few Hispanics in the business.
According to a survey released in April by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, in 2005 there were just 2,474 Hispanics working in the nation's newsrooms. That's 4.51 percent of the total work force.
For his part, Dobbs has carved out a niche as a critic of illegal immigration. And so the leaders of NAHJ invited him to be part of a panel discussion of the issue that included New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda.
It was a controversial decision. Judging from the dozen or so conversations I had with conference participants, there is a concern that "people like Lou Dobbs" have seized on the issue of illegal immigration and used it to grow their fame and fortune.
Either way, Dobbs' ratings are up since he started talking incessantly about "broken borders." His show on CNN now averages 813,000 viewers. That puts him just behind the No. 1 show in its time period: Fox News' "Special Report with Brit Hume," which has 1.2 million viewers.
I have no problem with fame and fortune. What concerns me is the path one takes to get there.
Before the discussion, I approached Dobbs, introduced myself and thanked him for having me on his show several times in the last couple of years.
"Yes," he said, "I read your column and I like it -- except the ones that call me a racist and a xenophobe."
It went downhill from there.
"Actually, Lou," I said, "What I've written is that you pander to racists and xenophobes. You seem like a pretty good guy, but some of your viewers are certifiable."
"You really think so?" he asked, "I think I have one of the most intelligent audiences on television."
"Well," I said, "Racism and intelligence aren't qualities that are mutually exclusive."
He had this look on his face that suggested he was trying to process what I had just said, until an NAHJ official interceded and said it was time for Dobbs to get ready to go onstage.
"Come back on the show," he said.
Sure. But I enjoyed this format. No sound bites or commercials. Just two guys getting in each other's face.
The panel went pretty well for Dobbs. He got applause for his jabs at employers who exploit illegal immigrant labor and the Mexican elite who are indifferent to the plight of their countrymen. He also made clear that he opposed making illegal immigrants criminals, let alone rounding them up and deporting them.
It helped that he stayed away from the material that might have elicited boos and snickers. He didn't explain something that he often talks about: how he's sure that, if you crack down on employers, illegal immigrants will self-deport. Or why he believes it's appropriate on his show to couple immigration stories with segments about language and culture.
Mixing these things illustrates a contradiction: Dobbs has said repeatedly that the only thing that concerns him is "illegal" immigration. But on his show he sounded the alarm bells when the Heritage Foundation put out a report warning that offering illegal immigrants a path to legalization could mean taking in as much as 100 million additional legal immigrants.
If you're sincere about one, why freak out over the other? Unless, of course, you're not as pro-legal immigration as you pretend to be. Unless, of course, what concerns you -- or those you're trying to pander to -- isn't just that people are coming illegally but that they change the language and cultural landscape of the country once they arrive.
There are words to describe that sort of thing. Unfortunately for those who have trouble accepting the truth about what this debate is really about -- and what it's been about for more than 200 years -- the words all end in "-ism."

I've been watching Lou Dobbs for over a year now and there's not one time I disagreed with him. He is open minded, on target and well aligned with our constitution. So, Mr. Ruben Navarrette, take your illegal attitude and take a hike. Illegal immigrants have no rights or rights to benefits and they should not be here..PERIOD!!

the 24th annual conference of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ).

This is the problem...why do we need a Hispanic association like this? Why can't legal hispanics just join our associations..in other words..assimilate. You are in someone else's country you are no longer in your own country. There shouldn't be any Hispanic this and Hispanic that. If our associations aren't good enough for you, go back to where you came from. But then we both know that where you come from, you can't have your associations because of your government. That's why you need to go home and fight for the freedom you want instead of coming here and pretending this is your country too (which wouldn't be so bad if you assimilated). Now, be gone, ILLEGAL hispanic, or whatever you want to call yourself.

The 37 percent in Dobbs' corner probably don't include many of the Hispanic journalists

And why not? Is it because they view this as an American vs. Hispanic issue and that's why they they choose to IGNORE the meaning of the word, "illegal" and is that why they don't care what the after effects of amnesty would have on this country.....which as everyone knows and history has proven would be....MORE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ?

Hmmm. Perhaps it is YOU Mr. Navarette, who needs to take a LONG, HARD look in the mirror ? Just MAYBE ?

Mixing these things illustrates a contradiction: Dobbs has said repeatedly that the only thing that concerns him is "illegal" immigration. But on his show he sounded the alarm bells when the Heritage Foundation put out a report warning that offering illegal immigrants a path to legalization could mean taking in as much as 100 million additional legal immigrants.

Mr. Navarette is an intelligent man. Sometimes I agree with him and sometimes I don't. But I generally appreciate his comments. However, we cannot absorb every lost soul on the face of the earth. We can only handle so many people before we have an adverse effect on our own citizens. It is starting to happen now. We already allow about 1 million legal immigrants per year now. That is more than any other country on earth. How many more can we handle?

Lou Dobbs expresses the views held by over 80 percent of the population who is sick and tired of seeing illegal alien deadbeats parading in our streets using fraudulent documentation including ssn's to steal benefits and services for which Americans have spent their working lives paying into, committing one crime after another with impunity, illegally voting, producing anchor babies by the truck load further burdening our already overburdened healthcare system and expecting Americans to foot the bill as illegal aliens don't reimburse hospitals for healthcare costs, and the soaring costs of incarcerating an ever increasing number of illegal alien criminals as it seems Vicente Fox has emptied all his prisons and sent them here. Shall I continue Mr Navarette as I have many more examples. If you can't or are not willing to become a part of the American fabric, take your fellow illegal alien Latino brothers and sisters and go home.