One of the things that always amazes me about the open borders crowd is their quickness in playing the race card with illegal aliens (I know saying illegal aliens is not PC, but I do not care...get over it). My answer to this charge is always the same, "When did illegal aliens become a race?" I was not aware there is a race of people called "illegal aliens." Where do they come from? Is this the lost tribe of Israel? Are they from outer space? The Republican Party is being castigated by some Hispanic zealots who say it is racist to not welcome and grant citizenship to these "undocumented immigrants." Ok, let's use your terminology for the moment. Are all "undocumented immigrants" Hispanic? If you say yes, you are a liar. If you say no, then you are spewing false accusations (i.e. racism playing a part in being anti-illegals) since you agree not all undocumented immigrants aka illegal aliens are of Hispanic origin. In fact, if I were Hispanic, I would consider it an insult to say someone is "racist" concerning illegal aliens. By design or ignorance, Hispanic leaders dish out the racist insult to anyone wanting a halt to illegal aliens from entering this country. By saying it is "racist" to do so makes one think all illegal aliens are Hispanic. That is patently false.
According to a Pew report (admittedly in 2005, so numbers have possibly increased), 56% of illegal aliens were from Mexico. 22% of illegal aliens are from other countries in Central America. Let's say that is, conservatively speaking, 80% now. What about the other 20%? They are made up of illegal aliens from Asia, 6% from Europe and Canada, and about 3% from Africa and other countries around the world. So, how can it be "racist" to be against any type of benefits for illegal aliens unless they consist of 100% Hispanic, 100% Asian, 100% Canadian, etc? The fact is that racism has little to do with being against illegal immigration despite what the open borders zealots want you to believe. They love to hide this inconvenient fact that just because a large majority of illegal aliens are Hispanic, then being against illegal immigration must be due to racism. Does this racism charge extend to Asians? Canadians and Europeans as well? So, to follow their (il)logic to its conclusion, you must be a racist simply because you are against illegal immigration regardless of nationality of the illegal aliens involved? A white American can be racist against a white Canadian now? A legal Hispanic can be racist against an illegal Hispanic now? The lunacy of such logic is mind blowing.
The fact of the matter is that the majority of legal ( naturalized and native born) Hispanics in this country are against illegal immigration also. They did it the right way. They resent such "Hispanic leaders" as La Raza (The Race) speaking on their behalf. To want the rule of law to be enforced is not racist. The open borders crowd knows this. But, facts are something that the Left has always hated. The Republicans should not let these screaming banshee's from La Raza and the rest of the Socialist crowd intimidate them with the race card. It is nonsense and they know it. But, the race card fits their agenda. So, expect the open borders zealots, Democrats and union leaders to keep playing the race card leading up to the Presidential election in November.
My political views tend toward the liberal end of the spectrum. Now that that's out of the way, I have to say this:
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheatedly with this particular post.
Cracking down on undocumented/illegal immigrants is not inherently about race. It risks becoming about race if we only focus on a particular racial group (eg: have police check the status of all hispanic people in a geographic area), or if we focus all border-protection resources on a single area that is used predominantly by a single race of people (the mexican border) while ignoring "holes" that people of other races slip through.