The prospect of Lou Dobbs short-lived presidential candidacy was the cherry on the cake of a campaign already deeply infused with hostility to immigrants and foreigners. It is easy (and appropriate) to demonize Republicans for demonizing immigrants, but Democrats share some responsibility, not only for not fighting back more vigorously on the issue, but also because they are uncomfortable talking about it, let alone leading on it.
The ease with which right-wing anti-immigrants, assorted racists and their close allies including Rudy Giuliani have been able to merge the issues of immigration, crime and terrorism happened in no small part because most leading Democrats stood by, uncomfortably silent, while Mexican workers were essentially accused of plotting to blow up American malls and/or of pillaging entire Iowa communities.
The recent commotion about undocumented immigrants and U.S. driver's licenses was typical. Hillary Clinton, always one to shy away from anything remotely controversial, truly has had half-a-dozen positions in as many weeks, a sure sign that she is caught between a rock and a hard place (in the meanwhile, of course, we have yet to hear from John Edwards on the issue besides his hammering away at Clinton's own indecisiveness).
As telling of Democrats' lack of grasp on immigration is Chris Dodd's silly statement during the Philadelphia debate that licenses are "a privilege." What the hell is that supposed to mean? That driving is more of a privilege than being allowed into the country to begin with? He then appeared to try to make up for it all during the Nevada debate by bringing up his Peace Corps days in the Dominican Republic (in Spanish no less), and it just ended up sounding like the sadly familiar patronizing tone so many Democrats take when discussing immigrants and foreign issues.
Immigration is the principal, though not only issue on which Democratic candidates have to perform a strange, convoluted dance that allows them to communicate in code to their often xenophobic native-born base. Since most Americans witness daily the hard work and humble life of many immigrants, it is hard for them to argue that they are taking away good-paying union jobs that they themselves would kill for (they'd actually happily kill not to do the jobs).
The same cannot be said for those other foreigners, further away and therefore invisible, who benefit from, gasp, outsourcing and free trade with the U.S. Isn't it ironic that after decades of exporting unnecessary, overpriced goods to countries often strong-armed into buying them, Americans are so resentful about Indian and Brazilian workers wanting to make a buck themselves?
At the other end of the labor spectrum, it is saying something that Microsoft and other normally omnipotent corporations have not been able to convince enough lawmakers of either party to allow more "qualified" foreign workers to be allowed into the U.S. (on H1 visas). Perhaps, in this case, Americans believe that they deserve those high-paying software development and engineering jobs, no matter how unqualified they are for them? Or are they just cutting their nose to spite their face: denying unfilled U.S. jobs to potential immigrants simply speeds up outsourcing as most companies looking for growth (as they all do) will move operations elsewhere.
Free trade, and to a lesser extent outsourcing, are complex issues and neither party has come close to figuring out a way forward. For instance, Democrats could pay a real price for Bill Clinton's trade agreements, bilateral or otherwise, that don't include strong provisions about the environment, work conditions and social benefits (in just a few fell swoops, he outsourced pollution, child labor and 100-hour work weeks; for some reason, this now makes Hillary chuckle). Republicans too are in a strange position, as the party of an unfettered free-market economy that hinders the free flow of labor and of extremely strategic goods such as peanuts.
Even the backlash against Chinese exports was tinged with no little hypocrisy, xenophobia and, perhaps, racism: yes the shoddy quality control on exported toys and medication is criminal (literally), but is it more so than the environmental and social havoc created by the U.S.'s own highly profitable international business activities over the past few decades?
Speaking of international business activities, since the tide of American public opinion on Iraq turned a couple of years ago, the emphasis has been nearly exclusively on the U.S. toll in lives lost and funds wasted. There is extraordinary little attention paid in the presidential campaign to the hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded Iraqis, or the millions of displaced Iraqi families. Even Democrats are remarkably timid on the subject, as if they wanted to avoid any little bit of guilt, or as if Iraqi lives were exponentially less important, or both.
In a campaign year in which real, actual flesh-and-blood, hard-working people are routinely called "illegals," not just in the mouth of nutjobs such as Tom Tancredo or Dobbs, but in that of "moderates" like Giuliani and self-styled liberals (ha!) such as Chris Matthews, Democrats continue to lumber along, setting a wrong foot on either side of the thin line between an enlightened international view and loyalty to U.S. labor. More often than not, they land firmly on the side of the latter, probably rightly assuming there are more votes to be won there in the short-term.
A little further down the road, though, Democrats should have tremendous fear about their uncertain handling of immigration, free trade, and foreign wars, as they cannot rely on Republicans' inane prejudice alone to motivate the growing number of first and second generation immigrant voters, or to generate goodwill with the U.S.'s international partners. Perhaps, in that sense at least, the Democrats' best hope is Barack Obama, who has so far managed these issues with the most grace and intelligence (surely due in no little part to his own multinational and multi-ethnic background), campaigning in a way that does not dismiss or patronize immigrants and foreigners, and pays due respect and priority to all U.S. workers. Such deft handling is imperative for Democrats. After all, first and second-generation immigrant voters may have been the single most important deciding factor in propelling the White House career of at least one GOP politician: one in two Latinos voted for George W. Bush in his successful 1998 Texas gubernatorial campaign, as well as in Florida in 2000, where a closer than expected vote and a corrupt Supreme Court allowed him to snatch a victory from Al Gore.
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""MEChA's founding principles state: "In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only of its proud historical heritage but also of the brutal gringo invasion of our territorie
Aztlan belongs to those who plant the seeds, water the fields, and gather the crops and no to the foreign Europeans.
"For La Raza to do. Fuera de la Raza nada." That closing two-senten
These words don't come from a fringe radical element. These come straight from the official MEChA sites at Georgetown University
Professor Jose Angel Gutierrez, founder of La Raza Unida Party, Director of "Movimient
Now who are the racists?
They don’t like lawbreaker
Americans don’t like their family and friends sitting outside the USA waiting to come in legally, while the illegals lawbreaker
The only racists in this debate are the anti rule of law, anti legal immigrant, pro illegal alien supporters
1. La Raza finances MECHa and has the same motto and many of the same goals.
See next post for their lovely philosoply
"For La Raza to do. Fuera de la Raza nada."
It says:"For The Race everything
2. Does open borders that mean with all countries,
All these amnesty proposals, given that they will benefit almost exclusivel
3.What about equal protection of the laws per our Constituti
We need immigratio
Don't expect that kind of reform from DIP.
At the borders and If person is caught without license, or proof of citizenshi
Assuming their prints don't match a crime, then let them continue on their way.
Nobody need fear the INS or the police. You wont be kicked out of the country without due process, you wont be hauled away if you can't produce ID. The police will love it, I think, because they can then trace everybody in the country. I am not so keen on the finger print thing, But I already gave mine to CA just to get my license. So no worse then now.
Since the fingerprin
Employers will be required to get ID number assigned for that finger print before hiring. Thus taxes etc.. get paid.
posted 11/19/2007 at
The only question to be asked on the issue of immigratio
There is no other valid question. How will this affect the citizens. If we can accommodat
It is not xenophobic to say that all decisions about immigratio
Name-calli
Anyone who is motivated by a concern to help the people of Mexico should start projects inside Mexico. Build businesses
Richardson went even further to also hold accountabl
Wolf comes out-saying he has all the easy-going intentions of letting the candidates answer the questions and get thier turn to speak. Yet what I heard afterwards
"Pearls or diamonds"? in a planted question? What the hell? Do they really think I'm this stupid?
Immigratio
IRAQ WITHDRAWAL PLANS---- YES OR NO!
DIPLOMACY WITH IRAN? YES OR NO?>>>Answ
I think the candidates all did a great job of making the msm look as moronic as they sounded here. People know the world is more complex and don't want simple yes/no answers. That kind of simplicity black/whit
With that said, I HATE when someone says "they'll do the jobs Americans won't do". It's the most dishonest statement you could make on the issue.
We have Americans willing to unclog our toilets, mop our floors and flip burgers in hole-in-th
The statement should be "undocumen
The bottom line is that the double whammy of insourcing and outsourcin
If we pay people well AND have an actual shortage of jobs, why don't we simply allow more hard working people in legally?
And we need stop attacking the supply and attack the demand on this issue. Building a wall and talk of deportatio
Go after the employers who hire undocument
www.theyou
It's best not to interrupt your enemy when he's slitting his own throat. Let the gops continue to look like psychopath
-- it's blather because it's only poor people they care to hold to the law, and truthfully
They ignore your major points because they always have. It's cool if we export misery and death; we can always focus on the terrorist threat from across the Mexican border (political
American xenophobia is always nasty; on a planet America viciously attempts to dominate, it's obscene.
Imagine if you worked in an industry where that was the case? Particular
So, let's turn this around a little. Corporatio
When the Democrats face up to the fact that most Americans aren't so stupid that we don't know the difference in LEGAL and ILLEGAL, they'll cut the Republican
IT'S ILLEGAL!No