Anti-Immigration Playbook
There is an anti-immigrant playbook in this country that goes back at least to the 1840's and the first wave of Irish immigrants. Typical arguments applied to nearly every wave of immigrants to this country have been 1. They are lazy; 2. They are going to take our jobs (funny in conjunction with #1); 3. They increase crime and 4. They bring disease.
To date in Arizona, we have seen all three of the first arguments in spades, but until recently I had not seen #4. But trust Sheriff Joe to be out front on this, issuing a press release stating:
Sheriff Joe Arpaio says that he has long argued the point that illegal immigration is not just a law enforcement problem but is a potential health hazard as well.
"This is a risk to our community and to my deputies," Arpaio says. "Deputies never know what they may face in the course of enforcing human smuggling laws."
Arpaio says that in the last two months, four inmates, all illegal aliens from the country of Mexico, were confirmed with having chicken pox, placing 160 inmates into immediate medical quarantine.
Earlier Apraio had this to say to GQ magazine (but he's not a racist!)
All these people that come over, they could come with disease. There's no control, no health checks or anything. They check fruits and vegetables, how come they don't check people? No one talks about that! They're all dirty.
Of course, like many of Arpaio's fulminations, this release fell somewhere between a grand exaggeration and an outright lie.
Maricopa County health officials denied reports by the Sheriff's Office that 160 jail inmates had been quarantined two months ago because of four illegal immigrants with chicken pox.
Officials also downplayed a news release issued by Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office last night about chicken pox found in immigrants busted yesterday, noting that such minor outbreaks don't normally make the news.
After our inquiries, MCSO Lieutenant Brian Lee said that Arpaio had, in fact, misspoken when he stated for the news release that a large-scale "quarantine" had taken place.
Evil Red Scandi:
Some good satire on immigration: South Park's Season 8 episode "Goobacks":http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/103883/
May 13, 2010, 10:41 amKevin Kellogg:
Love the blog overall --hate your immigration rants. I really don't get what your position is. It seems you just attack people who are for enforcing the current immigration laws.
Are you for open borders??
If not is deportation not an acceptable prescription for breaking the rules??
If it isn't acceptable --how is this not open borders??
You're irritating on the subject because you don't won't to enforce the current law but are unwilling to make a prescription you're willing to enforce.
My suspicion is your point of view is deeply unpopular and easily countered. You spend your time tearing down rather than confirming you're off the reservation with your readers on immigration. Instead of guilt trips and smears, could you kindly tell us when it is okay to deport some one??
May 13, 2010, 10:43 amL Nettles:
Those darn Irish and their typhoid.
May 13, 2010, 10:50 amdave smith:
Yes. No one, NOT ONE person who opposes illegal immigrants is racist.
Race has nothing to do with any of this, for anyone.
May 13, 2010, 11:17 amRJP:
I used to come to this site quite often but I'm now removing it from my list. Coyote's stooped to selective quoting to get the results he wants. Dishonesty of the highest order. From his post above:
"All these people that come over, they could come with disease. There’s no control, no health checks or anything. They check fruits and vegetables, how come they don’t check people? No one talks about that! They’re all dirty."
What he left out:
"They're all dirty. I sent out 200 inmates into the desert, they picked up 18 tons of garbage that they bring in—the baby diapers and all that. Where's everybody who wants to preserve the desert?"
Coyote wants you to believe that Arpaio thinks the illegals are themselves dirty, but no, it's their polluting of the desert that he finds dirty. Coyote can't come up with arguments so he just makes stuff up.
I'm done with Coyote Blog.
-RJP
May 13, 2010, 11:43 amADiff:
RJP,
Nice try to actually defend a few of the more moronic comments from Arpaio. He said "They're all dirty" which is perfectly clear both in and out of context. The man should be more aware of the impact of his words (or perhaps be a tad less willing to use that impact to curry the favor of certain portions of the electorate regardless the broader damage).
One need not agree with Mr. Meyer's commitment to open borders, which position has nothing to do with cultural tolerance or sensitivity in any way, but rather with an economic idealism applied with integrity (even in spite of it's being, yes Virgina!, very much unpopular and "off the reservation".
The kind of linkage you argue is exactly the same mindset that drives the Obama Administration's worst instincts...opinions are fine, as long as they don't fundamentally conflict with ours, then not only they, but all others expressed by the holders are destined for the media Gulag...since we refuse to contend what we are afraid we cannot defend.
I wasn't aware you were so in tune with the basic ideological paradigm of modern American Liberalism..but perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised.
May 13, 2010, 11:53 ampino:
#1, #2, #3, #4....
You are forgetting #5. The unfunded entitlements.
How many millions of dollars is Arizona, and other states, spending in order to accommodate the social welfare programs that are required as illegal immigrants make their way into the state?
May 13, 2010, 12:15 pmcaseyboy:
It appears the blog responder sentiments are at odds with the author. I think Kevin makes a good point, if the argument is for or against open borders let that debate begin. However, you cannot fairly or reasonably call those of us who are opposed to ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION racists. It is a typical liberal ploy. Distract from the real agenda item by calling adversaries bigoted, racist and/or homophobes. "You are an anti-immigration racist, blah, blah, blah." No, I'm a US citizen who wants everyone to follow the law. If you don't like a law work to repeal it or move to a different country. You cannot ignore it to suit your own desires or biases.
May 13, 2010, 1:33 pmFred:
Besides, why do it the right way, the legal way and apply, wait your turn, fill out the paperwork etc when being an illegal immigrant is just as equal but so much easier and faster.
See, crime pays if you are the right color and can't point a finger at other people and call them a racist.
May 13, 2010, 2:23 pmGaryP:
As one who helped do medical outreach in several countries on the pacific rim during the 80's (while running H (hospital) Division on a large US Navy vessel, I can tell you that concerns about health problems of illegal aliens are valid. TB, malaria, dengue fever, etc. are all common in 3rd world countries, especially among the poor (who obviously are the main source of illegals). Also, in many countries antibiotics are sold over the counter and used in low doses for long time periods, making the third world a great breeding ground for resistant bacteria (we already have enough abuse of antibiotics in US without adding non-prescription users).
May 13, 2010, 3:53 pmIt may come as news to some but malaria was endemic in parts of America until the 30's. My aunt (born in the 20's suffered from it an it probably helped cause her death in her 50's. The way you re-establish TB, malaria, and other tropical diseases is not by importing mosquitoes but my importing people carrying the disease that are then bitten by local mosquitoes (and then spread the disease i.e malaria or dengue)OR by letting people bring in resistant strains (i.e. TB). This is not the top reason not to allow uncontrolled immigration but it is a valid concern. A medical exam to get a visa would probably also be a good idea (but won't happen).
Max Lybbert:
I can't quite understand RJP's complaint about illegal immigrants littering. Is it likely that they will follow some kind of "you packed it in, you must pack it out" ethos while jumping the border? That's a very strange expectation.
And I agree with GaryP: if Arpaio wanted to point to diseases prevalent south of the border that are not prevalent in the US, he could have picked something better than chicken pox. Simple question, if you planned on spending a few months south of the border, what immunizations would you get? Why? What does that potentially suggest about illegal immigrants?
May 13, 2010, 5:31 pmGil:
Why don't Coyote & friends pull their finger out and say whether or not they support outright unqualified immigration? If so then a person becomes a U.S. citizen by merely standing within the borders of the U.S.A. and gets all the rights that comes with U.S. citizenship.
P.S. I hear malaria is making a comeback in Southern Europe thanks to African immigration.
May 13, 2010, 5:46 pmIgotBupkis:
Warren is stuck. He can't ack that there might be a difference between this wave of immigration and others.
a) The numbers, as a percentage of population are higher
b) The populations in question are not getting assimilated as effectively, partly as a result of the current multiculti BS.
If you want to compare the current hispanic immigration to previous ones, it's pretty easy.
Interactive US Immigration Census Data
Do the following:
Set to 1880.
Pick an immigrant group (for the moment, don't pick "Mexican"... humor me).
Run it forward step by step to the current day.
Do it several times (or more) for different national immigrations...
Now, do "Mexican" -- and TELL me the one for "mexican" isn't distinctly different.
:-/
Q.E.D. -- Warren is flat out wrong on this one.
May 13, 2010, 7:00 pmrsm:
Hey Bupkis,
Humored you. That map says dick all in terms of an accurate portrayal of anything. I'll hazard a guess that the 'area' is increased by incrementing the radius by whatever unit they're using, which means the 'area' of the bubble gets a lot bigger per unit increase (basic geometry) and one of the most common ways to deceive with statistics. That is the assumption I have to make, because anything else doesn't pass the sniff test on first glance. Of course, it could lend your point some credence if you could actually give me, or crunch, the census data, show me that the self-reported data is correct and give me some error bars. Pointing at a poorly designed statistical 'map' is as always a pile of crock. Also if this is self reported data that is not actually verified, there is now way to know what the criteria for being 'Mexican' or 'Norwegian' or 'Irish' are. There are reasons to report either way in the case of self reporting. I know it's census data, and official, but without proper analysis it's just a bunch of numbers that can say whatever you want, map is case in point.
The point that coyote accurately makes is that anti-immigration rhetoric is always the same. It doesn't matter whether the home-boys are neo-nazi's, liberals, Norwegians, Spaniards or Tutsis, it's the same fucking shite arguments. The immigrants are lazy, take our jobs, are criminal and dirty. These are the arguments I saw in Norway in the 1980s growing up, these are the arguments concerning the Africans coming into Spain and Italy, it's the same for the Eastern Europeans coming into Western Europe. The thing is that most of those people are hard working, honest folk who want a better chance for their families. The only ones we hear about are the criminals and the dead, because those make for good stories and sell papers. If you actually ask people, they'll always tell you "I know all X are criminals, but the nice X that fixed my roof/runs the local corner shop/teaches math to my kids is really nice and helpful and hard working. It's so nice to know one of the nice immigrants." Those are pretty much the words of my grandmother and most of the older folks I know back home.
In the end, you may not think you're racist, or that your attitudes reflect racism, but in the end they are simply another expression of fearing those that are different, and standing up for a bunch of thugs, because their your thugs. I don't care whether the guy who steals my wallet is white or brown or pink, just as I don't give a damn what color the guy who makes my stereo is, or the guy who fixes my car. I just want him doing a good job, and in the case of crime, a bad job, and getting caught or a good job and at least not hurting anyone.
[rant - feel free to ignore]
May 13, 2010, 7:53 pmAn aside to those who think Sheriff Joe has a point to make:
He's an asshole, the fact that he's your asshole still means he's talking shit, making it up and trying to sell it as the Seven Cities of Cibola. I'm way past the point where I'd trust a cop over a civilian, I'm past the point where I'd trust a cop over a known kleptomaniac with bipolar disorder. He's a sheriff with political ambitions who's been shown to step over most of the laws he has been hired to protect in order to carve out a fiefdom and scare others into doing his bidding. Supporting him or his lunacy unfortunately puts you in the trash box with the cialis spam. I don't mind arguments from people against immigration, there are good reasons to be against it, unfunded liabilities being probably the single best one, but if you're using Sheriff Joe as a credible voice of reason your dumber than congress on a pork laden appropriations bill.
[end rant]
rsm:
Hey Bupkis,
Humored you. That map says dick all in terms of an accurate portrayal of anything. I'll hazard a guess that the 'area' is increased by incrementing the radius by whatever unit they're using, which means the 'area' of the bubble gets a lot bigger per unit increase (basic geometry) and one of the most common ways to deceive with statistics. That is the assumption I have to make, because anything else doesn't pass the sniff test on first glance. Of course, it could lend your point some credence if you could actually give me, or crunch, the census data, show me that the self-reported data is correct and give me some error bars. Pointing at a poorly designed statistical 'map' is as always a pile of crock. Also if this is self reported data that is not actually verified, there is now way to know what the criteria for being 'Mexican' or 'Norwegian' or 'Irish' are. There are reasons to report either way in the case of self reporting. I know it's census data, and official, but without proper analysis it's just a bunch of numbers that can say whatever you want, map is case in point.
The point that coyote accurately makes is that anti-immigration rhetoric is always the same. It doesn't matter whether the home-boys are neo-nazi's, liberals, Norwegians, Spaniards or Tutsis, it's the same fucking shite arguments. The immigrants are lazy, take our jobs, are criminal and dirty. These are the arguments I saw in Norway in the 1980s growing up, these are the arguments concerning the Africans coming into Spain and Italy, it's the same for the Eastern Europeans coming into Western Europe. The thing is that most of those people are hard working, honest folk who want a better chance for their families. The only ones we hear about are the criminals and the dead, because those make for good stories and sell papers. If you actually ask people, they'll always tell you "I know all X are criminals, but the nice X that fixed my roof/runs the local corner shop/teaches math to my kids is really nice and helpful and hard working. It's so nice to know one of the nice immigrants." Those are pretty much the words of my grandmother and most of the older folks I know back home.
In the end, you may not think you're racist, or that your attitudes reflect racism, but in the end they are simply another expression of fearing those that are different, and standing up for a bunch of thugs, because their your thugs. I don't care whether the guy who steals my wallet is white or brown or pink, just as I don't give a damn what color the guy who makes my stereo is, or the guy who fixes my car. I just want him doing a good job, and in the case of crime, a bad job, and getting caught or a good job and at least not hurting anyone.
- rant - feel free to ignore
May 13, 2010, 7:55 pmAn aside to those who think Sheriff Joe has a point to make:
He's an asshole, the fact that he's your asshole still means he's talking shit, making it up and trying to sell it as the Seven Cities of Cibola. I'm way past the point where I'd trust a cop over a civilian, I'm past the point where I'd trust a cop over a known kleptomaniac with bipolar disorder. He's a sheriff with political ambitions who's been shown to step over most of the laws he has been hired to protect in order to carve out a fiefdom and scare others into doing his bidding. Supporting him or his lunacy unfortunately puts you in the trash box with the cialis spam. I don't mind arguments from people against immigration, there are good reasons to be against it, unfunded liabilities being probably the single best one, but if you're using Sheriff Joe as a credible voice of reason your dumber than congress on a pork laden appropriations bill.
-end rant-
astonerii:
So, do you all think that immigrants should be immune from any criticism? That saying bad things about them, typically stereotypes, and many times true statements is a bad thing? Is political correctness the new libertarian?
May 13, 2010, 8:36 pmBuddy Y.:
I wonder if the author's views are at all influenced by the fact that he runs a business which employs seasonal and low-wage workers. Are you concerned about the labor pool and wages rising if the border is shut down and immigration laws are enforced?
May 14, 2010, 6:14 amdave smith:
Here are the numbers for Texas according to a study by the Comptroller's office. Methods seem OK, they use average and not marginal cost, but marginal cost is very hard to estimate, I suppose.
In 2005, Illegal (or undocumented, as they are called) aliens contributed 17.7 billion to Texas' economy.
They cost the state 1.16 billion in various costs (education, jail, etc.)
They cost local governments 1.44 billion in various costs (health care, police, etc.)
They paid 1.58 billion in taxes.
So, on net, they "cost" Texas taxpayers 1 Billion. I'll bet this is an upper bound, as the costs were figured as average costs, and I'll bet marginal costs are lower. (Here is why...if there is an illegal immigrant's child in my class, and the child suddendly dissappeared, the school's costs would not go down my much. Many government services have high fixed and low marginal costs, but the study assumes that the each illegal bears the his/her share of the fixed cost that Texas would be paying anyway. Now, maybe the illegals will requre more capacity, then the study would be more accurate.)
I don't see a crisis with these numbers.
May 14, 2010, 6:19 amdave smith:
RJP, if coyote took Joe out of context, so did GQ.
May 14, 2010, 6:21 amcaseyboy:
Talk about timing. Last night I received an email from my brother-in-law who lives in Tucson. I contained a series of pictures taken by the CDC AZ Search & Rescue. The pictures follow a immigration highway (a dry wash) that runs from the border north toward Tucson. They say pictures are worth a thousand words and in this instance that couldn't be truer. My apologies for not being able to provide a link to the pictures, but I've copied some of the text. "As I kept walking down the wash, I was sure it was going to end just ahead, but I kept walking and walking, and around every corner was more and more trash! We estimate there are over 3000 discarded back packs in this layup area. Countless water containers, food wrappers, clothing, and soiled baby diapers."
Maybe this is what Sheriff Apraio was talking about? Someone that doesn't respect our immigration laws certainly isn't going to be concerned with littering.
May 14, 2010, 7:54 amRJP:
dave: I cut and pasted the whole quote from the GQ article.
-RJP
May 14, 2010, 8:42 amdave smith:
RJP, so you can cut and paste. Can you read? (And I thought you were gone from this blog anyway.)
From the article:
"GQ reporter Alexander Provan met with Sheriff Joe earlier this year—just as the Obama Justice Department began investigating alleged acts of racial profiling by his agents—to hear the man sound off on the controversy surrounding him ("I'm in the eye of the storm"), his personal views on race ("My daughter has adopted children of various ethnicities—I got a black, a Mexican with down syndrome even"), and what he really thinks about the Mexicans who cross our borders ("They're all dirty.")"
Read More http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/200911/joe-arpaio-sheriff-phoenix-mexico-border-immigration#ixzz0nvASv500
May 14, 2010, 9:15 amRJP:
dave: Yeah, I can read, can you? From the article (http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/200911/joe-arpaio-sheriff-phoenix-mexico-border-immigration?currentPage=3):
""My wife has a point about them coming over," Joe says. "All these people that come over, they could come with disease. There's no control, no health checks or anything. They check fruits and vegetables, how come they don't check people? No one talks about that! They're all dirty. I sent out 200 inmates into the desert, they picked up 18 tons of garbage that they bring in—the baby diapers and all that. Where's everybody who wants to preserve the desert?""
You, like Warren, saw what you wanted and moved on, not bothering to get the whole story. You see, I thought the quote that you (and GQ) picked out was meant to be inflammatory and pique the reader's interest so I actually looked through the whole article to see if it was expanded upon. And what do you know! There was more to the quote!
If you thought I was gone, why bother addressing a response directly to me? I might check in on threads I've contributed to, but Warren's posts have become too boring and predictable to bother with.
-RJP
May 14, 2010, 9:46 amdave smith:
The teaser at the first of the article clearly indicated that the author of the GQ story thought that Joe thinks Mexican's who cross the border "are all dirty." This is directly from the article.
So, again, if Warren took it out of context, then so did GQ.
And do you really believe that Sheriff Joe's actions are not racially motivated?
May 14, 2010, 10:26 amKevin:
Again, Legal Immigration Opponents only smear those that advocate following the law. They will not say when it is okay to deport someone who refuse to follow the process.
May 14, 2010, 2:18 pmSecondGuesser:
Warren, I must agree with Kevin Kellogg. I agree with you on so many issues, but immigration is not one of them. Your four reasons for the anti-immigrant sentiment may apply to the xenophobic few, but simply doesn't resonate with free thinkers who, simply put, believe that immigration should be controlled.
If the border was secured and the rules for entry were enforced, there would be no need for the Arizona law. But opponents of that law don't want a secure border and enforcement of immigration laws because that would deny them the ever-effective race card.
You will not see an individual more supportive of legal immigrants who come here for honest work and who pay their fair share of taxes. The real racists are the ones who are comfortable with a group of second-class, non-citizens who bear none of the burden to the state that the rest of us do, and whom can't possibly be incentivized to become part of the fabric of our nation under their current illegal status. America should not be a "free-for-some".
May 19, 2010, 11:00 amSecondGuesser:
One other point about crime. Sure, illegals may not commit crimes at a rate disproportionate to legal residents. But crimes committed by illegals are purely additive to the equation. If immigration laws were enforced, those crimes wouldn't be an issue from a resource/budgeting perspective.
Crime is a social issue that we should deal with because we, as a society, must deal with our problems. Crime caused by illegals, even if low in number, is morally unacceptable because it should be that other society's problem to deal with. I can't stand it when my fellow libertarians argue against interventionist foreign policy on the grounds that we're not the world's police, yet are totally comfortable with being the world's police simply because the world's problems sneak across our border.
May 19, 2010, 12:47 pm