Lou Dobbs: We Can Deport All Undocumented Immigrants ‘Because This Is The United States’

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/07/dobbs-mass-deportation/

Lou Dobbs: We Can Deport All Undocumented Immigrants ‘Because This Is The United States’

In a 60 Minutes interview last night, CNN’s Lou Dobbs said that, while he has never explicitly called for the mass deportation of all undocumented immigrants living in the United States, he believes it can be done.

“When this president and open-borders, illegal-alien-amnesty advocates say, ‘You can’t deport them,’ my answer is, ‘You wanna bet?’ Because this is the United States,” Dobbs said.

Host Lesley Stahl followed up, “If you think it’s possible. How’s it possible?” Said Dobbs: “I think this country can do anything it sets its mind to.” Watch it at link~
To quell the rising clamor of those like Dobbs who suggest mass deportation, the Center for American Progress produced the first-ever estimate of the costs of a policy designed to deport all undocumented persons currently in the United States. The July 2005 study found it would cost at least $206 billion over a five-year period. The report concluded:

The cost assessment presented in this report hopefully illustrates the false allure of adopting a mass deportation policy as a response to the challenges threatening our immigration system. The costs of a massive deportation policy would not only be substantial, but in many ways, financially reckless. Implementing such a policy would seriously jeopardize our commitment to secure the homeland and pay for our commitments overseas, as well as threaten other vital national priorities.

The non-financial costs associated with mass deportation may be even more painful. The AP notes the “hidden side” of the government’s stepped-up efforts to track down and deport illegal immigrants: “When illegal-immigrant parents are swept up in raids on homes and workplaces, the children are sometimes left behind — a complication that underscores the difficulty in enforcing immigration laws against people who have put down roots and begun raising families in the U.S. More than 3.1 million American-born children have at least one parent who is an illegal immigrant.

Dobbs appears too willing to muster the national will to waste financial resources and permanently fracture American society.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. I'd like to see Lou Dobbs' green card.

Oh, what's that? He doesn't have a green card? Deport the fucker.

[Donnachaidh]

2. Okay Lou -- get out that checkbook dude

Pony up the funds. After all, this is America and YOU are so wealthy, right? :sarcasm:

[fasttense]

3. Well, I can see how if we as US citizens set our mind to it we could do anything.

But do we really want to waste the money to do something as silly as deporting 12 million people? It would be so much easier to jail and severely fine illegal employers. We could make money instead of wasting it for a change. Once the poorly paid and unsafe jobs disappear, folks will return to their country just like they use to before Raygun started encouraging them to cross the border.

[Bridget Burke]

4. A million or two were deported in the 1930's

During the Great Depression, anywhere from one to two million people were deported in an effort by the government to free up jobs for those who were considered “real Americans” and rid the county governments of “the problem.” The campaign, called the Mexican Reparation, was authorized by President Herbert Hoover. Although President Franklin Roosevelt ended federal support when he took office, many state and local governments continued with their efforts.

Estimates now indicate that approximately 60 percent of the people deported were children who were born in America and others who, while of Mexican descent, were legal citizens.

http://campusapps.fullerton.edu/news/2005/valenciana.html

I'll repeat. American-born children were deported. Plus many who had NOT broken existing immigration laws.

And here are details of deportations from Texas. Not just the ones during the Depression.
www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/MM/pqmyk_print.html

[fasttense]

5. Yeah, deportation of millions is a really dumb idea. n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. I've always wondered...

how many of the 12 million "illegal" immigrants now are children of the american citizens "deported" during the thirties and are thus fully legal american citizens.

[NNN0LHI]

12. Lou Dobbs is a bone fide nut case n/t

[TahitiNut]

18. Lou should regard that as a compliment.

:shrug:

[Horse with no Name]

16. There was an excellent book written by Richard Flores

"Remembering the Alamo" that talks about another point in history where this happened.
We enlisted the help of thousands of LEGAL Mexican-Americans to fight the Mexicans in the fight for the Alamo, however, when we won, we then kicked them out of the country and proceeded to steal their homes and properties.
The Alamo--as told to school kids in history books--is one of the best examples of revisionist history available.

[Bridget Burke]

20. I had two years of Texas History in school--many years ago.

But I've been continuing my education since then. (And I'll bet they've changed the curriculum a bit--given the demographics of Texas schools.)

Many Tejanos didn't care much for Santa Ana--he wasn't a likable guy. Most of the Texians (whites) were "illegals." But the latest crop of immigrants aren't planning armed revolt. They don't want the USA to become Just Like Mexico! Sure, they get homesick. But they don't miss the economy & the government in Mexico.

Adina De Zavala, descendant of a Tejano patriot, led the fight to preserve the Alamo, San Antonio's four other missions & a more historical sites in the city. Her fervor led to conflicts with the other Daughters of the Texas Revolution. But she's finally getting some respect. (Her mother was Irish.)
www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/adp/history/bios/zavala/zavala.html

[SemiCharmedQuark]

30. My grandmother, a citizen born here in the U.S. was one of those deported.

[Tempest]

6. There are 600,000 criminal illegals that can't be tracked down

How does Dobbs propose to track down 12 million illegals?

The estimated cost would be $240 billion. Does Dobbs have that kind of money to contribute?

[madfloridian]

8. Why Dobbs hates Howard Dean so much...

Dobbs did not like this comment.

http://www.jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/050107/D8ORNVVO1.shtml

"Howard Dean calls leading immigration proposal 'insane'

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
AP Hispanic Affairs Writer

MIAMI - Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean called the immigration bill currently before Congress "insane" because it would require many of the nation's 12 million illegal immigrants to return home before applying for citizenship.

Speaking Tuesday as advocates kicked-off rallies, forums and voter drives around the state and country to push for liberalizing the nation's immigration laws, Dean criticized the proposal as unworkable."

....."This is a government that can't find a six-foot-four terrorist. How is it going to find 12 million people?" he told a group of more than 100 party supporters at Miami's Parrot Jungle Island. And if all those individuals decided to go home on their own, "imagine what will happen to our economy?" Dean added."

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Same song, different language. ""Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer!"

Same bullshit.

[mdmc]

10. That guy sure hates Mexicans

lol...Real Time...

[TahitiNut]

17. Yep. That must be why he married one.

:eyes:

[treestar]

26. I wonder what her status was

Was she born in the U.S. or did she have to immigrate, and if so, was she legal every day she spent in the U.S.?

[TahitiNut]

28. Gee... great question. That should settle the 'illegal alien' issue once and for all.

After all, it's all about Lou Dobbs and calling him names rather than the merits of anything he might say. Why not write her and ask? She was a sportscaster for CNN, iirc. She's probably used to getting that kind of mail. Maybe she could get her Mexican-American(?) parents to produce legal proof of their residency and the legitimacy of their daughter's birth, too. I mean, isn't it obvious that people with opinions we oppose need to be prosecuted?? Sure it is.

[treestar]

32. If she was born here it was moot, but I still say it is fair to deport her

like anyone else the minute she is illegally here, especially since that's his attitude. So I suspect she was born in the U.S.

Though she would have to show her parents and grandparents were born here too, to get around Lou's idea that people shouldn't be citizens just for being born here.

IOW, she better be 100% true blue American under Lou's desired requirements, or he's a hypocrit.

[mdmc]

31. a good cover indeed

:toast:

[entanglement]

11. WTF?

:wtf:

[gratuitous]

13. Gee Lou, what if we don't set our mind to it?

Are you gonna leave? Find another country that will keep its borders secure from illegal foreign incursions? I'm thinking North Korea might be more to your liking, although I'm not sure you're pure-blooded enough to qualify for living in Kim Jong-Il's paradise.

[southtpa]

14. Lou Dobbs

The "deportation" of illegal immigrants would be
relatively easy. time would be the factor but you would not
want to do it all at once. The govt. already has the
information on how many illegals work at each company and
which market sectors are the biggest offenders. social
security numbers which are phony or do not match the holders
names are on record. You only have to enforce the law company
by company or sector by sector. Large fines to employers would
make the news and cause employers in similar circumstance
to purge their illegals. unemployment will cause the illegals
to return home. Further details are unnecessary for the
intelligent among you. Apply only enough pressure to stop
further immigrants and return 2 million a year. Agriculture
would be the last sector chosen. Two changes to current law
will simplify things and eliminate criticism. One is only
children born in the U.S. to mothers
who are here legally would automatically be citizens. Two is
the elimination of the wet foot dry foot policy for Cubans
it's foolish and should never have been put in place.
favoritism makes all laws appear frivolous. I think this is
already the governments plan and it's the first thing I've
ever seen them do right.

[Bridget Burke]

15. Sure, let's amend the Constitution ...

How you know this is the the Government plan? The Republicans won't do it--for all the wrong reasons. And the Democrats won't do it because of your unconstitutional proposal about citizenship.

By the way--punctuation & paragraph breaks make things easier to read. Don't you know the rules of English usage? (Since I'm sure you're "English only.")

(Enjoy your stay!)

[southtpa]

21. plan

I have seen some things on the net that hint at this. They have already targeted some of the larger offenders. This gets you the publicity and there have been rumors in the Mexican community for over 9 months of large raids. I like Mexicans. I was pointing out how easily this repatriation could be done. As for english I don't like it so I never cared about that grade but I bet my G.R.E. is well higher than your's.

[BlooInBloo]

22. ROFLMAO!!!!! Now I understand why our intelligence agencies have sucked....

... since being taken over by republicans.

[Skittles]

27. "I like Mexicans"

:rofl:

[Bridget Burke]

29. So post a link to those "things on the net"

I never took the GRE. On an anonymous board, you can say you did--but there's no proof.

However, your sloppy writing is obvious to all.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

33. I think you mean "G.E.D."

It's OK, southpa, letters are hard.

[unhappycamper]

19. Hi southtpa!

Welcome to DU. :hi:

[maveric]

23. Would Lou Dobbs deport illegal Canadian immigrants? You know, white ones?

WWLDD - Who Would Lou Dobbs Deport.

Enough already!

[napi21]

24. Your complaints about Dobbs & children of illegals are two different

but related issues.

I happen to agree with Lou that our illegal problem can be solved, but not on the terminalogy he used on that show. I am a firm believer in severly punishing those who employ illegals (and take unreasonable advantage of them at the same time). I believe if 5 or 10 big time illegal abuser employers were imprisoned, most of the job opportunities would disappear, and so would the illegals. There would be NO REASON to stay here! Bad as employment and pay is in their home country, at least there's something...here there would be no chance at all.

As to the children being punished, let me say this. My neice & her husband were in the military and stationed in Japan when two of their four children were born. THOSE two children have dual citizenship and could return to Japan any time they chose, but their parents couldn't! The parents returned to the US and are raising their FOUR children...THAT'S their responsibility! The same thing applies to aliens from any country who bear children in the US. The parents have no right to remain here, but their children who were born here have dual citizenship and could return here any time they chose.

[treestar]

25. Human migration is a massive force

In a country this size, the ability to control it is questionable. We have the airports, but the land borders are really basically uncontrollable. We ought to have laws allowing Mexicans to come and go legally and get a visa when they have a job - that would be a lot more "secure" than just having many unknown people here.

But then being legal they could unionize and demand minimum wage - and that would not make the big corporations happy. Which is why we have laws that don't include these people as legal immigrants - it is deliberate, IMO, that we don't enforce the laws we have and don't amend them to make these individuals legal - it's so they work without rights and under threat of deportation, keeping them out of unions and keeping them afraid to stand up for themselves, thus working jobs Americans won't take because they won't work for less than minimum wage, without benefits, etc.