Why the GOP Demonizes 'Illegals'

[NNN0LHI]

http://powerwall.msnbc.msn.com/politics/why-the-gop-demonizes-illegals-1705283.story

The Daily Beast, Monday, October 24, 2011, 7:10am (PDT)

By Peter Beinart

I turned on the Republican presidential debate last week and learned something. In today's GOP, the correct term for a human being who crosses the U.S. border without a visa in search of a brutally difficult, poorly paid job that few native-born Americans wish to do but on which our national economy depends is “illegal.”

Not “illegal immigrant” or even “illegal alien,” which implies that the people cooking our food and making our beds arrived here by spaceship. But merely “illegal.” Maybe in the general election, when Mitt Romney goes trolling for votes in the Southwest, he'll soften up and merely dehumanize America's most vulnerable people via adjective. But when you're battling Rick Perry and Herman Cain, adjectives aren't good enough. You need the noun.

“Illegal” is the latest in a long line of euphemisms that politicians use to signal their antipathy to a reviled racial or ethnic group, in this case, Latinos. No, no, you say, this has nothing to do with animosity toward Hispanics; it's about protecting the border and obeying the law. Really? Then why don't we call the CEOs of the companies that hire illegal immigrants “illegals”? Our last three presidents all violated America's drug laws. The current Treasury secretary violated America's tax laws. Former House majority leader Tom DeLay recently was convicted of money laundering. I look forward to hearing Mitt Romney and Fox News refer to them as “illegals” too.

People from nonstigmatized ethnic groups don't get called “illegals” no matter what they do ...

[pampango]

1. If our problems are caused by "illegals" there is less blame to be cast on the rich and republicans.

If we could just get rid of those "illegals", jobs would be plentiful and wages would rise. Therefore, don't blame republicans for gutting progressive taxes and the safety net, busting unions and deregulating Wall Street and corporations. It's all the fault of "them" the "illegals".

A CEO, a tea party member, a union worker and an immigrant are sitting at a table when a plate with a dozen cookies arrives. Before anyone else can make a move, the CEO reaches out to rake in eleven of the cookies. When the other three look at him in surprise, the CEO locks eyes with the tea party member. "You better watch them," the executive says with a nod toward the union worker and the immigrant. "They want a piece of your cookie." ;) It's always the fault of "them" either "illegals" or unionized workers.

[benld74]

2. Its the ole US vs THEM allegory,,,