Lou Dobbs: "Illegal Alien"

Europeans say it was their “Manifest Destiny� to get rid of their original inhabitants. Now that descendants of these earlier Americans are trying to gain a better life in the land that belonged to their ancestors, Dobbs and his ilk, offspring of the Johnny-come-lately invaders, call them “aliens.� Who really is the “alien�?

ON IMMIGRATION

 

Congress is now looking at a bi-partisan Immigration Bill that will supposedly make it easier for “illegal” immigrants to become U.S. citizens. The measure is being hailed by some as a compromise between those who articulated for Amnesty and those would like to see the 12 million “illegal aliens” locked up and deported.
     
Some, like CNN’s self-righteous, anti-immigrant crusader Lou Dobbs, are already arguing that the Bill is a travesty that rewards illegality. To hear him tell it, the “aliens” are lawbreakers who should be treated as such. But there is more than a little hypocrisy and racist typecasting at work here.
      
First of all, Dobbs has repeatedly claimed that he has nothing against immigrants. He would have us believe that he is only concerned with those who are here “illegally.” Bull. Six days a week, Mr. Dobbs rails on his program about those who are coming across the Mexican border and in a skillfully deceitful way he insinuates that the nation is vulnerable to a terrorist attack because of this. Is he claiming that Mexicans immigrants will eventually become terrorists against this country? Or is he saying that terrorists will fly to Mexico then swarm across the border?
      
Upon keen analysis of Dobbs, a racist agenda starts to emerge. For example, his immigrant-bashing focuses on the Latino aspect of immigration. There is there no mention on his program about those white immigrants from Europe who have overstayed the allotted time on their visas.  

Many are decrying Mexicans coming here “illegally” across the border, oblivious to harsh historical truths. Mexicans have far more rights to be here than those of European stock who dispossessed and disposed of Native Americans for this land.

Moreover, most forget—or don’t know—that California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona along with parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming were once part of Mexico.
      
Europeans say it was their “Manifest Destiny” to get rid of their original inhabitants. Now that descendants of these earlier Americans are trying to gain a better life in the land that belonged to their ancestors, Dobbs and his ilk, offspring of the Johnny-come-lately invaders, call them “aliens.” Who really is the “alien”?

Moreover, if it were not for the economic hegemony—in the form of NAFTA, CAFTA etc—that America has wielded against Latin American countries, many Latinos wouldn’t need to come to America.
      

Now, when one listens to Dobbs’ vitriol it isn’t hard to hear the poison of racist fear-mongering. For example, let’s look at the leprosy “story” from Dobbs’s April 14, 2007 show. On that segment CNN correspondent Christine Romans reported that due to the rise in “illegal immigration” there had been 7,000 new cases of leprosy in the past three years. 
      

Of course this was false. The 7,000 figure reflects the number of cases for the last 40 years. This abominable claim that Romans reported on Dobbs’ show was attributed to one “Dr. Madeleine Codman.” But the good doctor, now deceased, and considered by some to be a quack, got her Ph.D. in English and comparative literature; not medicine. The leprosy “story” was challenged by CBS reporter Lesley Stahl on the May 10 edition of 60 Minutes. Dobbs insists the 7,000 figure was true and told Stahl that “if we reported it, it is a fact.”

Today, lies disseminated by Dobbs’ ilk are used to segregate poor whites from understanding their common economic exploitation with that of Blacks. The manipulation of cheap labor is the primary element used by the ruling gentry to perpetuate this class-driven society. Immigration is but one of the tools to divert attention away from the outsourcing of jobs, increase of income inequality, and the disastrous and costly Iraq war.

Finally, Dobbs ilk complain about “aliens” taking over American jobs—without conceding that his salary alone, tens of millions of undeserved dollars, could fund thousands of jobs. He’s more dangerous to our economy than Mexican “illegal” aliens. 

 


Benjamin is a member of The Black Star News’ Editorial Board.

 

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