Thread: IMMIGRANT BASHING'S RISING CRESCENDO

ELIAS: Immigrant bashing's rising crescendo

By THOMAS D. ELIAS
Tuesday, April 7, 2009 12:10 AM PDT

Immigrant bashing began long before the economic bust of the last year or so. There was the hate-laced campaign for California's 1994 Proposition 187, which aimed to deny almost all government services to illegal immigrants and their children and produced a spate of hate crimes aimed at Latinos, immigrants or not.

There was the entire career of former Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, who made the issue his exclusive theme while running in last year's Republican presidential primaries.

But as the economy sank last fall, the rhetoric became more shrill and the crescendo is still rising. Some of it feels a bit like the Depression-era anti-Semitism purveyed by the likes of Father Charles Coughlin of the now-defunct National Union for Social Justice and the Rev. Gerald Winrod of the equally defunct Defenders of the Christian Faith, who blamed Jews for every ill that befell America.

Now it seems as if Hispanic immigrants, legal or not, are scapegoats for all that's gone awry in California and the nation.

Pam Meister, editor of the FamilySecurityMatters.org Web site, titled a January blog entry "More Stimulus Follies ---- Illegal Aliens Cash In While Veterans Get the Shaft." "The pockets of illegal aliens could be lined with taxpayer dollars," she claimed. That's because the economic stimulus package then before the House proposed tax credits of $500 per person or $1,000 per couple.

"Undocumented immigrants ... can file tax returns," she said, noting correctly that only those who file would get credits. Of course, most immigrant bashers have claimed for decades that illegal immigrants pay no taxes. But if they file tax returns, they must be paying some taxes, or at least getting taxes withheld from their pay. Which means Meister wants it both ways: She wants to claim illegal immigrants pay no taxes, but also that they can get tax credits by filing tax returns. There is no logic here.

The usually very rational Los Angeles Times pundit George Skelton did a little immigrant bashing of his own, claiming in a February column that illegal immigration is responsible for a major share of California's ongoing budget woes.

He observed that illegals cost California billions of dollars via public schooling, prisons, Medi-Cal healthcare and welfare for citizen children of immigrants.

The problem, of course, is that like Meister, he's confused about whether or not illegal immigrants pay income taxes. His every calculation is based on the idea that illegals don't pay income tax. "Their main revenue contribution would be sales tax," he said. Skelton doesn't even estimate how much sales tax they pay, or gasoline tax, nor does he mention the income taxes withheld from the pay of workers at car washes, restaurants, garment workshops, hotels, farms, roofing companies and every other business where illegals are employed.

For every study claiming illegals are a drain on government budgets at all levels, there's another saying they are at least a break-even proposition. No one knows for sure whether they pay their way completely, but the undeniable fact is that as a group, they do pay at least a major share of their own freight.

Rationality like this has nothing to do with immigrant bashing, just as it had nothing to do with the rampant anti-Semitism of the 1930s. This is scapegoating, pure and simple, and the extent of it is a disgrace both nationally and in California.

Thomas D. Elias is a Santa Monica-based political commentator and author. Comment online at nctimes.com or contact him at Tdelias@aol.com.

NORTH COUNTY TIMES

LETTERS: NCT, April 9, 2009

Where did you get this guy?

Is Thomas D. Elias a Mexican or an American ("Immigrant bashing's rising crescendo," April 7)? Or one of these ancestor-worshiping "wish I could've been there with Villa" wannabees? Whatever he is, he certainly, like most illegal defenders, is a misguided racist enabler.

The disgrace of the American government is not scapegoating Mexican illegals, it is allowing anyone (yes, anyone!) to enter this country illegally when we have the capacity to stop them.

Any one of the thousands of American victims of an illegal attack by an illegal alien should pick up their weapons just as Villa and Zapata did and overthrow this corrupt and traitorous government.

Or we could do what makes sense and allow Mexican workers to come here legally with a "mica" and legal proof of employment. But to have to listen to the tripe that Mr. Elias spews is insulting and intellectually disingenuous when he knows he's defending criminals.

The biggest problem with all this is that if you can break one law, there is no law, because if you justify one criminal you justify them all.

Richard

Encinitas

LETTERS: NCT, April 9, 2009

The advocates for illegal aliens fudge the difference between immigrants and illegal aliens. Our immigration policy is set to encourage immigrants whose impact is beneficial and avoid those who can not. The argument that advocates use infer that the benefit the nation has from immigrants should go to cover the net loss between the illegal aliens taxes and the services they consume.

Elias is not smart enough to figure out that the gains America gets come from legal immigrants and that illegal aliens cause a loss. He clearly would not defend himself well in a debate.

"Undocumented immigrants ... can file tax returns," she said, noting correctly that only those who file would get credits. Of course, most immigrant bashers have claimed for decades that illegal immigrants pay no taxes. But if they file tax returns, they must be paying some taxes, or at least getting taxes withheld from their pay. Which means Meister wants it both ways: She wants to claim illegal immigrants pay no taxes, but also that they can get tax credits by filing tax returns. There is no logic here.

Many don't file tax returns because they are getting paid under the table, or they have a bogus business (not registered etc...like cutting lawns, trimming trees, cutting hair, day care centers, bars, restaurants in their homes or selling on the streets...on down the line, where they do a service and get paid but do not pay taxes, pay a fee or go through inspections, have insurance or any of the rest of things a citizen has to do.) They do so by staying within their ethnic community where they don't worry about being sued or being turned in for their illegal activity. Like the bogus cheese factory who sold cheese in Mexican tiny groceries and it was tainted with salmonella.....when they traced it down, it came to a brick wall......how can you sue a non-existant factory and distributors who suddenly no-one knows. Many make money doing totally illegal things and make a great deal of money and obviously pay no taxes. Many collect freebies through our welfare system, pantries set up to help the poor and then go and sell them at the flea markets, garage sales etc. Others use phony documents but they can alter their deductions where they pay in as minimul as possible and then can use their anchor children, or anchor children of a relative to get the earned income credit. Sometimes spreading the kids around because who checks anymore?

So yes indeed, even though SOME pay taxes, it doesn't come close to the drain they place on the rest of us. Obviously not paying taxes isn't something new, look at our trusted leaders.....but they put in more than what they take out and that's not so with all the illegals. How can you have an illegal alien be here three years and be ready for retirement before he got caught with tax issues, if he was abiding by the law and paying the taxes due? Think that cartel guy was making 3 million a year at his photo shop doing legal things and paying his taxes? Nope, guess his prison sentence is proof of that. No, not ALL abuse the system, but enough to be a serious problem. Just like ALL aren't good honest hard working people where the ONLY thing they did wrong was come here legally. It's no more logical to claim they ALL deserve amnesty either.

Bashing? I think he meant to say "reporting".

Bashing means "excessive or unwarranted" criticism and there is no way there is an excess of critics on illegals. The majority of MSM news is pro-illegal.

In fact, any "reporting" that is done is certainly warranted. The issue of illegal immigration affects every U.S. citizen in this country and the more the issue is covered, both by those who support it and those who oppose it, the better informed legal citizens will be to make up their own minds about it.

The author is just being dramatic and not truthful in his comment. He is, in fact, "bashing" anyone who doesn't write what he wants to read. IMO

welcome to ALIPAC snakeoil......

Originally Posted by uniteasone

welcome to ALIPAC snakeoil......

Thanks. I've been away for awhile. Used to be Rattler on here but now I'm back as snakeoil since that was my avatar then.

Welcome back, snakeoil! This PC-ness is starting to make me insane. Let's see, the war on terror is now called responding to man-made disasters? I once worked for a temp agency in Fla. and my "handler" called to ask if I wanted a two-day job to be a 'human directionist'. Turned out I would be standing in a driveway to a new apartment complex directing cars where to park. I politely refused, hung up and laughed for three or four days and years later I am still laughing.

Originally Posted by Richard

The advocates for illegal aliens fudge the difference between immigrants and illegal aliens. Our immigration policy is set to encourage immigrants whose impact is beneficial and avoid those who can not. The argument that advocates use infer that the benefit the nation has from immigrants should go to cover the net loss between the illegal aliens taxes and the services they consume.

Elias is not smart enough to figure out that the gains America gets come from legal immigrants and that illegal aliens cause a loss. He clearly would not defend himself well in a debate.

God knows I have noticed that same phenomenon as well: pathetic at best and downright insulting at worse.