Conservatives Conflate Immigration with Drug War
July 12, 2010
Supporters of Arizona’s draconian new Immigration Reform bill (pdf) repeatedly cite ONE reason for the need to clamp down on illegal immigration: Drug crime. And so, they target ALL immigrants (or people who just look Hispanic) in fighting America’s failed “War on Drugs”. This is like passing laws against “automobile passengers” to fight “getaway cars”. FAR more innocents will be affected while having little or no effect on the actual problem.
Flipping through the channels Sunday morning here in Texas, I happened across one local program featuring a panel of five women discussing the AZ bill. While one of the five women questioned the scope of the bill, all five seem to agree that a bill was needed and that there is an “illegal immigration problem in this country”. This is… of course… Conservative nonsense. The sole dissenting panelist noted the fact that crime is in fact DOWN in Arizona, as is the number of people coming across the border. The response of the other women: “that’s because of the economy. No jobs.” My response to that: So? What does it matter WHY crime and illegal immigration are DOWN? The fact is, THEY ARE. Supporters of this new immigration bill are defending it on the grounds that “illegal immigration and border violence are on the rise” to the point where it is becoming “a serious problem”. But both claims are absolutely false, so why are they pushing so hard for this new law? Why do Arizonans heavily support the bill? Violence is not up along the Arizona border despite the drug violence in Mexico.
America is addicted to cheap Mexican labor. I’ve heard from more than a few ranting/raving Right-Wing lunatics in hysterics over “how much money illegal immigration is costing us”. Somehow, people with no identification, living in constant fear of deportation, most of whom don’t even speak English, have discovered an American utopia of “free health care”, “free money from the government”, and the skills to take “all our good jobs” (yes, I did actually have someone claim illegal immigrants were taking “all our good jobs”. I kid you not. My response: “Hey, if you want to pick lettuce all day in 110′ heat for 5cents head, apply for the job! I’m sure they’ll hire you!”)
(entire movie available online via “FREE Movies” link on left)
Whatever perceived costs illegal immigrants are costing the American taxpayer, it is a pittance compared to the cost of rounding them up, prosecuting & deporting them, followed by the cost of fruits & vegetables going through the roof, new homes becoming even more unaffordable as construction costs rise, and $250 a night to stay at the Motel 6 because the cost of maid service just went through the roof. Janitorial services in office buildings, loading dock crews, the guys that mow your lawn on weekends, the list goes on. Anywhere people are doing menial work for next to nothing, you’ll find illegal immigrants. You think immigrants are costing you a lot of money now? Just wait until you start going after them en masse.
The genesis of the AZ bill was the March 27th murder of cattle rancher Robert Krentz living near the AZ border. Footprints at the murder scene show the killers fleeing 20 miles on foot across the border into Mexico. Whether the killers originated in Mexico is irrelevant to the hysterical masses in that state (because criminals fleeing to Mexico is so exceedingly rare, the killers MUST have come from there, no?) The motive for the murder? To this date, it is still unknown, but the explosion of drug violence just across the border in Mexico leads many to believe the murder is drug related. Nothing was stolen from the Krentz home, and he was shot using a 9mm handgun stolen from a neighboring ranch the night before. Just who shot Krentz is unknown. Whether or not the murderer was here illegally is unknown. Whether the murderer was even Mexican is unknown. Yet the Republican governor is race-baiting her state for political gain. I say that because I can find NO other justification for it. Crime is down. Illegal border crossings are down. And we know NOTHING about the person who murdered Robert Krentz except that they fled on foot to Mexico. But as I’ve said on here a dozen times before, I’ve never seen a bigger bunch of frightened pussies in all my life than Republicans. These people live in constant fear that the rest of the world is out to get them (according to Glenn Beck, the Muslims have even infiltrated the White House with the election of President Obama). The government wants to round them all up and put them in “FEMA concentration camps”, or prison if you refuse to buy health insurance. And we can’t hold terrorists trials anywhere inside the United States for fear of terrorists attacking any town agreeing to hold said trial. They love war, but don’t serve themselves. They aren’t (yet) asking to live in a hermetically sealed bubble, but remember Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars missile defense shield”? What do you think that was?
Just across the border in neighboring “Cananea“, Mexican police have found themselves in massive gun battles with Mexican drug cartels, armed to the teeth running drugs across the border into the United States to feed our insatiable desire for illegal drugs. In Piedras Negras, four young men (Mexican college students) were found decapitated and left on the hood of a car at a Mexican shopping mall (presumably as a message to the locals). Last week, Arizona governor Jan Brewer claimed people had been beheaded “IN Arizona”, without a lick of evidence, clearly intended to whip up further hysteria over illegal immigration. Brewer’s claim was likely based on the aforementioned story from Mexico. Racists just can’t help themselves, can they?
As all these reports clearly show, Arizona doesn’t have an “illegal immigration” problem, if it has any problem at all (remember crime is down), it has a “drug violence” problem. But Republicans wouldn’t be Republicans if they passed up the chance to harness hate and racism to blame “dirty Mexicans” rather than point the blame at American drug users… many (many) of whom are rich white folks that can afford to buy illegal drugs even in a sinking economy. And we all know who rich white folk vote for, right?
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July 12, 2010
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Posted in: myth busting, Politics, Racism
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World Wide News Flash - July 12, 2010
Conservatives Conflate Immigration with Drug War » Mugsy`s Rap Sheet…
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