[lbo-talk] "Illegal" Hey Lou Dobbs, Ya Really Wanna Go There?

[Stephen Philion]

http://counterpunch.org/philion05202006.html

[clip]


  /"Illegal"?/


  Lou Dobbs, Do You /Really/ Wanna Go There?

By STEPHEN PHILION


The word illegal' to describe aliens' is designed to differentiate 
illegals' and citizens. Thus pundits such as Mona Charen reacted to the 
recent spate of huge demonstrations in support of immigrant workers,

"Most galling to many Americans (both native-born and naturalized) is 
the attitude of entitlement displayed by the illegals who thronged the 
streets in recent weeks. To stage a demonstration demanding anything 
when you are not in the country legally is an act of supreme chutzpah."

And, just to show not only nativist conservatives like Charen are up in 
arms, Hillary Clinton has recently chimed in, "I am, you know, adamantly 
against illegal immigrants." It is taken for granted that American 
citizens have the right to be offended at those who benefit from illegal 
acts in order to gain work. Should that be taken for granted however? 
Are not many of the most angry anti-immigrant rights activists 
beneficiaries of past violations of US law, especially the constitution? 
Or put in a slightly different manner, aren't they also descendants of 
immigrants who benefitted from illegally constructed laws that conferred 
illegal entitlements in labor markets through to the 1960's?

Consider the case of the arc nativist media celebrity Lou Dobbs, who 
rails against illegals' every evening on his CNN show. Dobbs hails from 
a family of European immigrants and his working class parents raised him 
in a small town in Idaho. An illegal' immigrant today who is stealing' 
jobs could and should ask if Dobbs' parents and grandparents didn't 
benefit from the Chinese Exclusion Acts. This massively and systemically 
illegal violation of the US constitution enabled countless millions of 
Americans from Europe to gain access to jobs, real estate, and 
citizenship rights.

Talk about entitlements! If one adds onto that the privileged access 
that Dobbs' parents or grandparents had to land and political 
representation out west and in the north that countless millions of 
African Americans and other non-whites [e.g. Mexicans, Asians, etc.] 
were illegally denied, the extent of entitlement' enjoyed by today's 
immigrant "illegal" workers" crossing the Rio Grande looks pretty lame. 
In fact, today's illegal' workers might wish they could benefit from 
violations of the US constitution that facilitated the social mobility 
enjoyed by descendants of legal' immigrants.

And they shouldn't be shy about reminding today's anti-immigrant media 
celebrities and politicians alike that they too are the products of past 
violations of US laws that provided illegal entitlements to their 
immigrant ancestors. Then at least honest discussion of illegal' 
immigration can begin to take place in the US today.