And so it is with the immigration debate. Open borders extremists and special interest groups are making every attempt to redefine terminology used to discuss immigration in the United States and to paint those who espouse immigration sanity and enforcement of our immigration laws as racists.
Here are some of the terms that open borders fringe groups are trying to manipulate in order to promote their agendas:
In a blatant McCarthiest move, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has recently claimed that organizations calling attention to negative aspects of illegal immigration are guilty of hate speech10 and hate crimes11, claiming that hate crime statistics "…strongly suggest a marked upswing in racially motivated violence against all Latinos, regardless of immigration status."12.
Other special interest organizations, such as the National Council of La Raza ("The Race") have chimed in.11 Through a coordinated name-calling effort, they are attempting to stifle informed debate on the crucial issue of illegal immigration.
The truth is quite the contrary. In an insightful expose, the Federation for American immigration Reform (FAIR),13 revealed that data collected by the FBI14 show that hate crimes against Hispanics has decreased over the last 20 years as a percentage of the Latino population.16 The percentage that a Latino in the United States being the victim of a hate crime has declined dramatically over this period - by 18 percent for Hispanic victims and by 22 percent for hate crime incidents.
The SPLC statement is intentionally misleading because it fails to adjust the hate crime data for the increasing size of the Latino population. In addition, it ignores the increase in the number of jurisdictions submitting hate crime reports, and it ignores the true longer-range downward trend in reported hate crimes against Latinos.
The trend in FBI-monitored hate crimes is clearly downward. Special interest groups and biased reporters who claim the contrary are attempting to stifle public debate and disinform the American public.
During the McCarthy era from the 1940s to late 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy advanced his personal agenda by openly accusing thousands of Americans of being Communists. Although his accusations were mostly unsubstantiated by evidence, he succeeded in intimidating a great many of his victims into silence. Many lost their jobs and careers simply as a result of the unsubstantiated accusations.9
The subversive open borders network is trying to do the same thing today, only their objective is to shut down debate on the immigration by calling anyone who does not agree with them a racist.
Their tactics are to:
The truth is that one can be in favor of openly and honestly discussing and lowering immigration numbers without being a racist. Indeed, that certainly is the case with the vast majority of Americans. Yet special interest open borders groups realize that if they are forced into a rational debate on the issue, they will lose. So they attempt to shut down debate by calling their opponents racists.
It is very easy to see through this guise. Whenever an open borders extremist calls their opponent a racist, remember that this is really code for "we want to shut down debate - we absolutely do not want to openly discuss the issue."
"Comprehensive immigration reform" is a euphemism "amnesty".
The United States takes in approximately one-million legal immigrants every year2 - more than all other countries combined! In 2003, the Department of Homeland Security estimated that there were 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens in the United States and 700,000 new illegal aliens were entering and staying every year. Yet many convincing studies reveal that these unchanging statistics represent significant undercounts. Several analysis3,4 indicate that at least 20 million illegal aliens reside in the United States and that up to 12,000 illegal aliens enter the United States every day, or, as Arizona Senator John McCain reported - more than 4 million per year.4
"Immigration reform" has traditionally meant reducing these overwhelming numbers to a more reasonable level and to specifically address runaway illegal immigration.
Yet when open borders zealots use the phrase "comprehensive immigration reform", they are using the phrase as a code word for amnesty. By distorting the original meaning of the phrase, they are able to couch their special interest agenda in reasonable-sounding language while co-opting the original intent.
For example, the National Council of La Raza ("The Race") states that "NCLR supports comprehensive immigration reform that includes… undocumented people in our country to come forward, obtain legal status, learn English, and assume the rights and responsibilities of citizenship." In other words, an amnesty for those who entered the U.S. illegally.5
Similarly, the special interest group, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), claims in their publication "Making the Case for Comprehensive Immigration Reform" that:
In other words, the AILA position is that illegal aliens should be given amnesty for their crime of entering the United States illegally and evading capture so as become legal citizens. They call this "Comprehensive Immigration Reform".
Open borders extremists attempt to slur those supporting immigration reduction as being "anti immigrant". This is nonsense, but by repeatedly issuing the false accusation they are trying to make it stick.
Saying that one who favors immigration reduction is "anti-immigrant" makes no more sense than saying that one who is on a diet is "anti-food". One certainly can be very supportive of legal immigrants while standing for the rule of law and elimination of illegal immigration into the United States.
Open borders extremists want to silence debate by name calling. In fact, ad hominem attack or name calling is recognized as a formal debating tactic which is often applied when one is in a losing position.
Misleading statements are not limited to special interest race-based organizations. It has been common to see the media malign those in support of immigration reduction as "anti-immigrant". For example, although the Washington Post typically takes the position of defending illegal aliens, they have publicly stated that those opposed to illegal immigration are not anti-immigrant. In a March 2, 2008 commentary, the newspaper's Ombudsman issue chided the editors for failure to uphold their own policy against such references, stating, "A few 'anti-immigrant' references have popped up in recent stories and shouldn't have."8
Whenever you hear the accusation "anti-immigrant", remember that it is code for "we want to shut down debate of the issue on its own merits."
Open borders extremists do not want you to hear the term "illegal alien" - ever. They make every attempt to confuse the issue by using the term "immigrant" to apply to anyone who enters the United States, either legally or illegally. Here are the formal definitions:
An alien is any person not a citizen or national of the United States. A permanent resident alien is an alien admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident.16 The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) broadly defines an immigrant as any alien in the United States, except one legally admitted under specific nonimmigrant categories (INA section 101(a)(15)).18 An illegal alien who entered the United States without inspection, for example, would be strictly defined as an immigrant under the INA but is not a permanent resident alien.17
An illegal alien is an alien who enters the United States without inspection or without an appropriate visa authorizing entry.
The subversive open borders network are fond of saying that "no person is illegal" in order to blur the distinction between legal immigrants and illegal aliens. Yet United States Code is very clear on the matter:
8 U.S.C. 1325 specifies Improper Entry by Alien as:
Being present illegally in the U.S. is a civil matter. However, 8 U.S.C. 1325 states that it is a federal crime to enter the country without inspection. A first offense can bring a fine and/or up to six months imprisonment followed by deportation. A second offense is a felony which can bring up to two years imprisonment and/or fine followed by deportation. Thus, illegal immigration is a federal crime and a civil offense, enforced in two separate courts.
The term undocumented immigrant is another term bandied about by open borders zealots. The concept behind the use of this term is twofold:
However, illegal aliens are guilty of much more than missing a piece of paper. Indeed, most of them have an abundant collection of documents: false driver's licenses, tax ID numbers and social security cards.
Keep in mind that people who sneak across our borders and evade capture are not legally allowed to be in the United States, no matter what they are called.
The approximately one-million legal immigrants who are admitted to the United States every year have stood in line to come to our country and have been given permission to enter by our government. Lawful immigrants have all of the rights accorded to U.S. citizens under the Constitution.
Illegal aliens, on the other hand, have committed a criminal act in entering the United States and evading capture and typically commit additional criminal acts by using false identification. They certainly have basic human rights, such as the right not to be assaulted. As violators of United States law, however, they are subject to arrest, imprisonment and deportation. They do not have a right to avoid enforcement of the law.
Illegal aliens do not have a right to live in the United States.
The La Raza open borders network constantly refer to "immigrant's rights". By painting with a broad brush, they are trying to make it appear that illegal aliens are the same as legal immigrants, and that illegal aliens have all of the rights of United States Citizens.
Remember that when you hear the term "immigrant rights", it is a code phrase. It really means de facto amnesty for illegal aliens so that those illegal aliens in effect will become full US Citizens.
[1] Jesse James Garrett blog
(website visited July, 2009)
[2] "Legal Immigration - The Bigger Problem", Edwin S. Rubenstein, The Social Contract (Summer, 2007)
[3] Issue: "How Many Illegal Aliens Are In the U.S.?" The Social Contract (Summer, 2007)
[4] "How Many Illegal Aliens Are in the U.S.? - An Alternative Methodology for Discovering the Numbers", Fred Elbel, The Social Contract (Fall, 2005);
also published on DesertInvasion
[5] "Comprehensive Immigration Reform", policies of the National Council of La Raza
(website visited July, 2009)
[6] "Exclusive: The Truth about 'La Raza'", Rep. Charlie Norwood, Human Events Online (April 7, 2006)
[7] "Making the Case for Comprehensive Immigration Reform", American Immigration Lawyers Association
(website visited July, 2009)
[8] Howell, Deborah, "Immigration Coverage in the Crossfire," Washington Post (March 2, 2008)
[9] "McCarthyism", Wikipedia
(website visited July, 2009)
[10] Alexovich, Ariel, "A Call to End Hate Speech", The New York Times Politics Blog (February 1, 2008).
"The head of the country's largest Latino civil rights organization called on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News to stop providing a forum for pundits who consistently disparage the documented and undocumented Hispanic immigrant population. Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington on Thursday, Janet Murguia, the NCLR president, said that 'anti-Latino remarks on the big three cable news networks are insulting not only to minorities but also to the greater American population.'"
[11] NCLR Press Release (January 21, 2008), Janet Murguia, NCLR president said, "It is no coincidence that we are seeing the highest historical spike in hate crimes against Hispanics."
(website visited March 6, 2008)
[12] "Intelligence Brief, ", Southern Poverty Law Center
(website visited March 27, 2008)
[13] "Illegal Immigration and Hate Crimes: Is There a Relationship?" Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), November, 2008
[14] "Hate Crime Definition", Federal Bureau of Investigations. This data set excludes the 9/11 al Qaeda terrorist attack on American citizens and residents.
(website visited March 7, 2008)
[15] U.S. Census Bureau website
(website visited March 7, 2008)
[16] U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(website visited July, 2009)
[17] "Alien", Wikipedia
(website visited July, 2009)
[18] "Permanent Resident Alien", VisaPortal.com
(website visited July, 2009)