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Jul. 19th, 2014
LI’L IMMIGRANTS
Jul. 19th, 2014 11:21 amI don’t have any real opinion on the immigration reform debate in the US. Or rather, I do, but it’s basically the same opinion I’ve had for awhile – there’s no question reform is needed, but I think the horror stories conservatives throw around about illegal immigrants in America are at best overblown and at worst xenophobic and racist.
In fact, the biggest problem with immigration reform could well be the inability of conservatives to frame it in any other way as an us-against-them invasion of American sovereignty that is, of course, all Obama’s fault (him being from Kenya and all).
This is not only counterproductive to any sane discussion on what to do about it, it’s also providing the batshit wing with incentives to stage really dumb photo opportunities.
Some are relatively harmless – like Sean Hannity and Rick Perry pretending to patrol the Rio Grande with machine guns looking all butch. (I’m assuming they weren’t actually allowed to man the guns. I’d hate to think Hannity was in a position to actually decide whether or not to fire the thing if they’d just happened to come across a bunch of people trying to make it across.)
Others are more stupid and potentially dangerous – like sending angry mobs out to stop buses full ofchild refugees gawdamn foreigners.
For one thing, you never know when you might scream and yell at the wrong busload of kids. Which just makes you look even more stupid.
Also, it doesn’t actually solve anything. I really don’t know what the protesters think they’re accomplishing – maybe they think the buses should be driving the kids back to Honduras? Or they should just dump the kids in Mexico somewhere? What do they think we do with illegal immigrants who get caught anyway? Give them an Obamaphone and a job in Walmart or McDonald’s?
Whatever it is they think they’re doing – and whatever you think about immigration reform, etc – it still comes down to this:
Dudes, you are yelling and screaming at a bunch of kids. More to the point, you are yelling and screaming at kids on the run from countries steeped in gang violence and poverty and have probably seen things no kid should ever have to deal with. They probably don't need a crowd of angry white grown-ups screaming “Go back to Mexico!” in their face (especially when they’re not even from there).
It’s a dick thing to do. I’m sure many of the protesters are only doing it because they’re angry about the situation and they can’t yell and scream at Obama and they gotta yell at someone, and the kids are just convenient targets. It’s still a dick thing to do.
What’s really striking about all this is how, if this were happening almost anywhere else, this situation would be described by most people regardless of political affiliation as a humanitarian crisis – child refugees fleeing their decimated home countries by the tens of thousands in the hopes of staying alive and finding a better life somewhere else, etc.
But in America, it’s treated mostly as another tool in the political toolbox for conservatives to beat up on Obama and whip up Big Fear of Alien Invasions.
My Republican friends like to tell me this is all Obama’s fault because of his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which they say is basically the same as posting a big sign on the border saying “Hey Central America, send us yr kids!” There’s quite a bit of evidence that this isn't the case, but it’s an election year, so it looks to me like Republicans are more interested in talking points that blame Obama and the Democrats for everything than actually analyzing the situation, much less doing anything about it apart from mass deportations.
Anyway, Jon Stewart has a good breakdown of that, and the ludicrousness there of.
Kicking and screaming,
This is dF
In fact, the biggest problem with immigration reform could well be the inability of conservatives to frame it in any other way as an us-against-them invasion of American sovereignty that is, of course, all Obama’s fault (him being from Kenya and all).
This is not only counterproductive to any sane discussion on what to do about it, it’s also providing the batshit wing with incentives to stage really dumb photo opportunities.
Some are relatively harmless – like Sean Hannity and Rick Perry pretending to patrol the Rio Grande with machine guns looking all butch. (I’m assuming they weren’t actually allowed to man the guns. I’d hate to think Hannity was in a position to actually decide whether or not to fire the thing if they’d just happened to come across a bunch of people trying to make it across.)
Others are more stupid and potentially dangerous – like sending angry mobs out to stop buses full of
For one thing, you never know when you might scream and yell at the wrong busload of kids. Which just makes you look even more stupid.
Also, it doesn’t actually solve anything. I really don’t know what the protesters think they’re accomplishing – maybe they think the buses should be driving the kids back to Honduras? Or they should just dump the kids in Mexico somewhere? What do they think we do with illegal immigrants who get caught anyway? Give them an Obamaphone and a job in Walmart or McDonald’s?
Whatever it is they think they’re doing – and whatever you think about immigration reform, etc – it still comes down to this:
Dudes, you are yelling and screaming at a bunch of kids. More to the point, you are yelling and screaming at kids on the run from countries steeped in gang violence and poverty and have probably seen things no kid should ever have to deal with. They probably don't need a crowd of angry white grown-ups screaming “Go back to Mexico!” in their face (especially when they’re not even from there).
It’s a dick thing to do. I’m sure many of the protesters are only doing it because they’re angry about the situation and they can’t yell and scream at Obama and they gotta yell at someone, and the kids are just convenient targets. It’s still a dick thing to do.
What’s really striking about all this is how, if this were happening almost anywhere else, this situation would be described by most people regardless of political affiliation as a humanitarian crisis – child refugees fleeing their decimated home countries by the tens of thousands in the hopes of staying alive and finding a better life somewhere else, etc.
But in America, it’s treated mostly as another tool in the political toolbox for conservatives to beat up on Obama and whip up Big Fear of Alien Invasions.
My Republican friends like to tell me this is all Obama’s fault because of his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which they say is basically the same as posting a big sign on the border saying “Hey Central America, send us yr kids!” There’s quite a bit of evidence that this isn't the case, but it’s an election year, so it looks to me like Republicans are more interested in talking points that blame Obama and the Democrats for everything than actually analyzing the situation, much less doing anything about it apart from mass deportations.
Anyway, Jon Stewart has a good breakdown of that, and the ludicrousness there of.
Kicking and screaming,
This is dF
