In numerous post on the anti-immigrant bigotry of the GOP and the tea party set. Indeed, the irrational fear/hate of anyone deemed "Other" is so pervasive that the far right is now better defined by who they hate as opposed to any set of principles or rational political agenda. Last week's passage of a virulent anti-immigrant bill in Arizona seems to have opened the flood gates of debate on immigration reform and focused a spotlight on those who would seek to deport anyone who is not a heterosexual, white, evangelical Christian. Paul Krugman, Nobel winning economist and op-ed columnist for the New York Times has a piece that looks at the knee jerk insanity of the birthers and teabaggers and their fear of "the Other." CNN also has a story that looks at the fears that Arizona's law has created among Hispanic U.S. CITIZENS - many of whom were born in this country. First some highlights from Krugman's column:*
[W]hen I look at today’s Mexicans and Central Americans, they seem to me fundamentally the same as my grandparents seeking a better life in America. On the other side, however, open immigration can’t coexist with a strong social safety net; if you’re going to assure health care and a decent income to everyone, you can’t make that offer global.
*
Republicans, on the other hand, either love immigration or hate it. The business-friendly wing of the party likes inexpensive workers . . . But the cultural/nativist/tribal conservatives hate having these alien-looking, alien-sounding people on American soil.
*
[W]hat the Tea Party really signifies, I think, is that the business interests have lost control, that the base, with its fears about the Other, has escaped from guidance. And the sudden immigration outburst is part of that phenomenon.
*
Democrats think this gives them an opening. I’m unclear about that, at least for 2010. But yes, in the long run you have think that if the GOP becomes the party of angry white men, unleashed — as opposed to angry white men harnessed to the business elite — it will have a poor future.
*
As for the unfairness of this anti-immigrant hysteria of the far right causes hard working Hispanic Americans - such as my office manager/head paralegal - CNN looks at what many of these legitimate citizens now fear with good reason:
*
At a vigil protesting the passage of Arizona's tough new illegal immigration law, a young man in Army fatigues and a beret lit a candle at a makeshift shrine. Pfc. Jose Medina, an Army medic, came to the Arizona capitol while on leave, to express his sadness over the law, signed by Arizona's governor on Friday.
*
"I'm here because this is something that's close to my heart," said Medina. "I went off to protect this country, to protect my family. That's what hurts." The new law requires immigrants to carry their registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there is reason to suspect that they're in the country illegally. Critics fear the law will result in racial profiling.
*
Medina, 20, is from El Mirage, a working class Latino community northwest of Phoenix.
"When I first joined the military, they would ask us where you from, and I would say 'I'm from the great state of Arizona,' " Medina reflected. "I was raised here, I grew up here. Now I don't know if I can say that so proudly. I don't know if I want to live here anymore."
*
Jose Medina wondered if some of his family members or friends, some of whom are undocumented, would still be in El Mirage when he returned. "I worry will my family live in peace," he said. "What good is keeping us safe here ... if we lose a part of what makes America so great? If we drive fear into our own peoples' hearts?"
[W]hen I look at today’s Mexicans and Central Americans, they seem to me fundamentally the same as my grandparents seeking a better life in America. On the other side, however, open immigration can’t coexist with a strong social safety net; if you’re going to assure health care and a decent income to everyone, you can’t make that offer global.
*
Republicans, on the other hand, either love immigration or hate it. The business-friendly wing of the party likes inexpensive workers . . . But the cultural/nativist/tribal conservatives hate having these alien-looking, alien-sounding people on American soil.
*
[W]hat the Tea Party really signifies, I think, is that the business interests have lost control, that the base, with its fears about the Other, has escaped from guidance. And the sudden immigration outburst is part of that phenomenon.
*
Democrats think this gives them an opening. I’m unclear about that, at least for 2010. But yes, in the long run you have think that if the GOP becomes the party of angry white men, unleashed — as opposed to angry white men harnessed to the business elite — it will have a poor future.
*
As for the unfairness of this anti-immigrant hysteria of the far right causes hard working Hispanic Americans - such as my office manager/head paralegal - CNN looks at what many of these legitimate citizens now fear with good reason:
*
At a vigil protesting the passage of Arizona's tough new illegal immigration law, a young man in Army fatigues and a beret lit a candle at a makeshift shrine. Pfc. Jose Medina, an Army medic, came to the Arizona capitol while on leave, to express his sadness over the law, signed by Arizona's governor on Friday.
*
"I'm here because this is something that's close to my heart," said Medina. "I went off to protect this country, to protect my family. That's what hurts." The new law requires immigrants to carry their registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there is reason to suspect that they're in the country illegally. Critics fear the law will result in racial profiling.
*
Medina, 20, is from El Mirage, a working class Latino community northwest of Phoenix.
"When I first joined the military, they would ask us where you from, and I would say 'I'm from the great state of Arizona,' " Medina reflected. "I was raised here, I grew up here. Now I don't know if I can say that so proudly. I don't know if I want to live here anymore."
*
Jose Medina wondered if some of his family members or friends, some of whom are undocumented, would still be in El Mirage when he returned. "I worry will my family live in peace," he said. "What good is keeping us safe here ... if we lose a part of what makes America so great? If we drive fear into our own peoples' hearts?"
No comments:
Post a Comment