Is it racist or wrong to use the term “illegal immigrant?” That’s a position that is getting more of a hearing these days as liberals seek to change not just the laws, but also the way we talk about the issue. To date, the New York Times has resisted the pressure to abolish the term, but the debate is heating up, and no one should be surprised if eventually the mainstream media replaces it with something more neutral like “undocumented immigrant” that makes the act of crossing the border without permission sound more like a bureaucratic oversight than an actual crime.
The latest blow struck on behalf of this effort came from NPR’s Maria Hinojosa who claimed that Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel likened the term to the way Nazis treated Jews. Wiesel is a person who stands above politics, and his moral authority to discuss just about any issue is not likely to be challenged. But whatever one might think about immigration or the plight of those who come here illegally, the attempt to eliminate the term, much less compare illegal immigrants to the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust, is absurd. Illegal immigrants are called illegal not because Americans view them with malice but because they are in this country illegally.
Hinojosa spoke of a conversation she said she had with Wiesel on Chris Hayes’s MSNBC show on Sunday:
If there is an authority, you [Wiesel] should be it. And he said, ‘Maria, don’t ever use the term ‘illegal immigrant.’ And I said, ‘Why?’ And he said, ‘Because once you label a people ‘illegal,’ that is exactly what the Nazis did to Jews.’ You do not label a people ‘illegal.’ They have committed an illegal act. They are immigrants who crossed illegally. They are immigrants who crossed without papers. They are immigrants who crossed without permission. They are living in this country without permission. But they are not an illegal people.”
While anyone who grew up admiring Wiesel as a moral voice must approach any criticism of him with reluctance, if Hinojosa’s recollection is correct, he has, unfortunately, done something that he has often criticized: made an inappropriate use of a Holocaust analogy.
The implicit comparison here between Nazi race laws and the simple fact that the United States, like any sovereign nation, has the right to control entry into its borders is an abominable misuse of the legacy of the Holocaust. The analogy is also false because the dehumanization of the Jews was a pretext for their murder. No one, not even the most radical Know-Nothing anti-immigrant rabble-rousers, want to harm the illegals or deprive them of their humanity or destroy them as a people. They just want them to be deported for violating the law. It should also be pointed out that the Jews were not only not “illegal” in Europe, they were a people whose citizenship was illegally revoked by a criminal regime.
This argument is also disingenuous. This is not about language or humanity, but the desire of some people to treat immigration law as a mere technicality the violation of which ought to be treated as no worse than a traffic ticket. We understand that people like Jose Antonio Vargas, the well known journalist who is himself an illegal (and who appeared on the same MSNBC show with Hinojosa) have a vested interest in our doing so. But when he argues as he did on MSNBC that “conversations about immigration begin and end with the word illegal,” most Americans would be justified in replying that this is exactly as it should be.
Even those who believe that onerous restrictions on legal immigration ought to be loosened must acknowledge that violations of the law cannot be treated as trivial. While it is reasonable to argue that the laws should be changed, no one has a “right” to enter the United States illegally or to remain here.
The Democratic Party gave a full-throated defense of their right to be here at their recent convention, though President Obama has been shy about raising the issue at forums where he might have an audience that is not solely composed of adoring liberals. But whatever the country may ultimately decide to do about the situation, the attempt to treat a straightforward and descriptive term as a sign of racism that is reminiscent of the Nazis is unacceptable. If, as has often been said, the first person to invoke the Nazis in a political debate loses, it would appear Hinojosa, and by extension, Wiesel, has done just that.
Mexico is not Auschwitz.
What about Illegal Alien….that is the appropriate term…or better yet criminals. That is even better…because they are CRIMINALS….the law states … these people are criminals…immigrants come to this country and become citizens, they want to be here. Illegal Aliens (criminals) come here to steal and to suck this country dry. Stop pussy footing with the words…call it what it is CRIMINAL ACTIVITY> it is not a tough concept….
"illegal immigrant" does seem grammatically incorrect. Behavior is illegal, not people. People who engage in illegal behavior are criminals. n nSo I welcome a change in terms: Criminal Immigrant is much better. n nUsed in a sentence: n"Criminal Immigrants are people who engage in Illegal immigration into a country."
I would want to see confirmation of the Elie Wiesel quote. He does not toss around Nazi allusions and comparisons likely.
At the risk of seeming pedantic, is it not also true that many illegal immigrants are not "undocumented?" Their presence in the US is, in fact, documented.
as Milton Freidman and von Mises argue, immigration policy is government intervention in the labor market. most conservatives are against other types of govt intervention in this realm, except for immigration. not sure why. any thoughts?
remember, conservative – liberal divide is about the degree of socialism. There is a strong libertarian streak in the republican party, but they are not conservatives, so often libertarian principles get mixed into conservative labels. Conservatives are ok with entitlements…to an extent (ie they are conservative in their scope, expansion, etc). Because of entitlements, free market labor cannot exist (ie, its unsustainable). In other words, because of acceptable government expansion into the labor market (entitlements, unions, work rules, etc) the government MUST expand into other areas of the labor market to control costs.
…. Is it "racist" or "wrong" to use the term illegal immigrant …? n nNot "racist" (whatever – given the 100% of migrants are Human – "racist" means) but certainly wrong. n nAs in inaccurate and/or Incorrect. n nFor an immigrant is a lawful migrant and every one of those referred to as an "illegal immigrant" is an illegal migrant. And even then, only until he procures the false and/or fraudulent documentation he needs to get a job and/or an apartment: a counterfeit Social Security Card, for example. n nAt which time he becomes a criminal alien. n nAnd it is certainly not "racist" and most certainly not "wrong" to call a criminal alien a "criminal alien."
n n n nOnly the enactment to this amendment can stop this problem by making it official that only the children of at least one parent being a U.S. citizen. Also waiting for a vote in the House is mandatory E-verify “THE LEGAL WORKFORCE ACT” law to halt illegal aliens taking citizens and lawful resident’s jobs. Why this law sit’s dormant stands to show how many the politicians care about the legal workers, although this law has been carefully hidden from site by none other than Democrat majority leader Harry Reid. Why with 8.1 percent of Americans are jobless, why either the House or Senate refuses to bringing either of these laws to the floor. n n nMany states have no significant enforcement of Voter laws, specifically those governed at state level by Democrats? States that are closest to the border region will be heavily compromised by non-citizens voting in election cycle. Lacking any true overseeing of voter fraud, such as people voting in two states, illegal aliens-intentionally or not-voting or even absentee ballots easily altered, we hope that the impartial people such as the TEA PARTY or other unbiased organizations can check all and every discrepancy immediately or after the general, state and local elections. FLORIDA–will be watched carefully for irregularities by many groups including TEA PARTY members in the voting, with criminal violators being slapped with a felony. n n nIf you are legally here in America you should be voting for the TEA PARTY as they slip into the open ranks of both political parties. It don't matter where you came from, your skin color, you are just as threatened by the party of Obama and his Czars, who will destroy the American dream. Blacks, whites, Hispanic or any other bloc of citizens who will eventually suffer from job loss, sovereignty rights and the freedoms that being an American is all about. Hundreds of thousands have by now read the strange circumstances around President Obama's birth, but very few if any politicians have had the backbone to talk about it. The TEA PARTY.ORG has the facts and insurmountable evidence, that something is seriously wrong. I have never been one for conspiracy theories, but this one takes the cake. One very suspicious question to answer is, how can Obama have registered for Indonesian schooling, when they only accept proof of citizenship for people born there? Alice in the Lewis Carroll book "Alice in Wonderland: More and more curious or stranger and stranger! As the saying goes? n n nA new revelation that has been urgently spotlighted is the effects of immigration and the constant need for portable water. A new report has been released by (FAIR) The Federation of Immigration Reform, that America cannot sustain its need for fresh water. Population has exploded from between 1970 and 2010, U.S. population increased by more than 50 percent, from 203 million to 309 million, driven by a massive wave of immigration. This is great for the creation of businesses, but bad for consumers who are already suffering from clogged highways, crumbling infrastructure, and loss of farmland as it is being developed continually for more apartments and housing. Our water supplies are not plentiful and you very rarely hear about the court battles over water. If Obama wins in November he has promised to pass immigration amnesty for the 20 million plus illegal aliens, which not only will there be fraudulent applications as it was in 1986. Another amnesty of this proportion will bring into the country through CHAIN MIGRATION even millions of more immigrants who have been sponsored by family members. Commerce and industry doesn’t care as its more profits and cheaper hiring. n n n The TEA PARTY mission is to bring awareness to any issue which challenges the Security, Sovereignty or Domestic Tranquility of our beloved nation. Learn the facts and evidence of President Obama and his ultra Socialist agenda at TEA PARTY.ORG. n
n nIF YOU BELIEVE IN THE “RULE OF LAW” YOU WILL STAND BY THE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS, WHETHER YOU ARE A LEGAL LATINO, HISPANIC-AMERICAN, OR ANY OTHER RACE AGAINST THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CURSE, WHICH IT’S COSTING TAXPAYERS BILLIONS; A MASSIVE GROWING PROBLEM AND POLITICIANS MINDLESSLY PANDERING AND BETRAYING ALL OF US. n n nJoin your local TEA PARTY.org is fighting back against the overall corruption in the dominant political parties and elected officials. NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE UNDER THE DEMOCRATS OR REPUBLICANS. HOW MUCH MORE CAN AMERICA TAKE? SKY ROCKETING GAS PRICES, WHEN THIS ADMINISTRATION HAS COMMANDEERED “THE PEOPLE’S LAND, AND ONLY A FEW PERMITS FOR ENERGY COMPANIES TO DRILL FOR OIL, LOCATE NATURAL GAS AND HAVE DECIMATED THE COAL INDUSTRY. THIS NATION COULD BE INDEPENDENT OF COUNTRIES THAT HATE US, AND WE COULD BE SELLING OUR OVER ABUNDANT RESOURCES TO FRIENDLY COUNTRIES THAT ARE HURTING. THE SATURATION OF EPA RULES AND REGULATIONS THAT IS SMOTHERING SMALL BUSINESS CREATIVITY; ANY CHANCE OF A NEW TAX REFORM CODE, THAT WOULD ERASE SPECIAL INTERESTS OR THE WEALTHY, BUT FAIRNESS FOR ALL, EQUITY FOR ALL? n n n TERM LIMITS IN WASHINGTON, SO THE POLITICIANS WILL BE FREE FROM FIGHTING FOR CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND THE MONEY FAVORS CORPORATE ENTITIES. WHAT THE TEA PARTY INSISTS ON IS RETURNING MANY RIGHTS TO THE STATES, INSTEAD OF BEING ADMINISTERED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, SUCH AS HEALTH CARE. THE MOST OMINOUS ISSUE OF IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GROWING LIKE A DANGEROUS WEED WITHOUT ANY RECOURSE. A MONOLITH THAT IS TAKING OVER EVERYTHING–A TERRIBLE EDUCATION SYSTEM THAT IS FAILING, A TAKEOVER OF THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, THE DISMANTLING OF OUR ENERGY RESOURCES AND THE THREAT TO OUR LIBERTIES AND SAFETY FROM ENEMIES ABROAD. n n nObviously the 47 percent mainstream Liberal-Communist-Marxist progressives will provide the ammunition to attack Romney, but they will stay quite about the pandering to the "Freeloaders" the scroungers and those parasites and illegal aliens who live off the rest of us. Not forgetting that many in the percentage are the infirm and handicapped that needs a helping hand. n n nThe children of illegal aliens for years have played the price, as they were young children without status when brought here by criminal parents? Today there has been a remedy for them through President Obama’s executive preference, although it should have been voted on in the Congress. This inconceivable problem will never go away and will indeed get far worse unless Congress enacts the BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BILL. It is highly controversial and unless an amendment is forthcoming, the state treasuries will be forever drained. Pregnant mothers coming here with the deliberate plan to have their child on welfare and the hundreds of Billions of dollars extracted by inept federal laws of that says children born here automatically receive citizenship. The illegal alien parent is feeding from the welfare trough, without ever paying a cent into the fund. This can only escalate further as President Obama is encouraging illegal immigrants and migrants to come, by delivering free food stamps without any restrictions. Just look at California, THE SANCTUARY CITY STATE" Where Los Angeles city Administrator gave out the latest payout of the children of illegal alien parents. Two months and a hundred sixty million dollars later and now Los Angeles is pushing for another tax hike. This is incredulous-to let our lousy, incompetent federal government pay for all these illegal aliens in this border state. NO WONDER CALIFORNIA IS IN A DOWNWARD FISCAL SLIDE? n n n nOnly the enactment to this amendment can stop this problem by making it official that only the children of at least one parent being a U.S. citizen. Also waiting for a vote in the House is mandatory E-verify “THE LEGAL WORKFORCE ACT” law to halt illegal aliens taking citizens and lawful resident’s jobs. Why this law sit’s dormant stands to show how many the politicians care about the legal workers, although this law has been carefully hidden from site by none other than Democrat majority leader Harry Reid. Why with 8.1 percent of Americans are jobless, why either the House or Senate refuses to bringing either of these laws to the floor. n
Acually an "immigrants" is a foreigner who lawfully enters the USA to live permanantly. And "illegal alien" is someone who crosses the border without a valid visa or a former immigrant who violates some rule of their residency here. n nIllegal alien is more correct that illegal immigrant but both are correct and accurate. n nMore importantly, the USA needs to enforce immigration law, which means deporting illegals and we also need a reduction in LEGAL immigration for a good ten years. Everyone around the world does not have a God-given right to "migrate" to the USA.
Oh come on…'undocumented immigrant' is an almost Orwellian perversion of language. How about let's start using the term 'undocumented acquisition' for…shoplifting?