"Invasion" part deux

So, I'm going to post a few last thoughts on immigration here. Part of this is in response to a friend's reaction to my previous post. Part of this is because my last post was a very sarcastic rant against most of the assholes I hear on right wing radio, which I listen to way too much of. This is partially a response to responses, and partially a more level headed explanation of why the rhetoric of "invasion" bugs the hell out of me.

First, a little history. When people start talking about the "invasion" of illegals -

Wait. Let's be honest. We're talking about Mexicans. I mean, really we're talking about Peruvians, Chileans, Costa Ricans, Puerto Ricans, and any number of other people. But they all get melted into one big Mexican by the time the talking heads on Fox News get a hold of them.

Okay, so when people start talking about the "invasion" of illegal Mexicans into our country, I think of Valley Park, Missouri. Valley Park, just minutes away from downtown St. Louis, is not a bad place. It just has a few really crazy people in it and the town elected one of them mayor. Last year, the mayor of Valley Park made it a crime to be an illegal alien and imposed fines on businesses that hire and landlords who rent to illegals.

He apparently has a double major in redundancy.

You can read the details here.

Now, normally I'd write this off as one of the countless idiotic wastes of time government engages in. Making it illegal to be illegal sure seems like one of those symbollic gestures that usually just mildly annoy me. But, as soon as the ordinance was approved St. Louis County police were flooded with calls from Valley Park reporting illegal immigrants.

Anonymous calls of course. Anonymous calls from people whose only evidence of someone being here illegally (in most cases) is - what, the color of their skin? Their inability to speak fluent English? Their last name? Because unless you've some really cool mutant ability that you haven't registered with the government, you can't tell and illegal Mexican from a Mexican who's just having a hard time learning the language.

So, as a result, Hispanics had the risk of always having to prove their legal status on demand. And many whites saw no problem with this because they're simply trying to stop the invasion of their town.

Now, I'm a fiscally conservative, socially liberal, constitutional Libertarian. I believe that every citizen has the right to live a life free of molestation by the government. Each day I see a million tiny encroachments into my private life that are rationalized in a number of ways. I forgive these encroachments for the most part. But one thing that is unforgivable, is anything that would ever force me to have to provide documentation of my right to be here to authorities on demand.

Luckily I'm white. If you're white like me, take a sigh of relief. Because man, if I had a dark tan, I'd be worried about what happened in Valley Park, Missouri. Luckily, that ordinance was struck down by the courts. Others followed. Some approved and some failed.

I'm still happy that I was born with blonde hair and blue eyes.

So, when I hear the word "invasion" that's why it gets my hackles up.

Okay, so why not "invasion". After all, there's not denying that a lot of illegals make their way into our country each year. And with recent news stories about the rape and murder of a child by an illegal immigrant, my friend makes a statement that doesn't really seem all that unfair:

"last time I checked raping, pillaging, and murder of a country's citizenry(especially children) is all things that happen in an invasion"

Those are things that happen in some invasions (though i'd like to think our recent invasion of Iraq was more benign and lacked the viking aspect). They're also just fucked up things that happen in any society.

My problem with "invasion" rhetoric is that it's hyperbole to the nth degree. How many illegals are in America today? The conservative estimate is 12 million last time I checked? Some of the more reactionary groups estimate 24 million. Everyone else falls somewhere in between.
How many violent crimes like this have been committed by illegals? Is it between 1.2 million and 2.4 million? If at least 10 percent of the illegals were raping and killing our citizens, I'd almost allow the rhetoric to pass.

Almost.

"Invasion" turns all illegals not just into dangerous criminals, but into something damn near a military enemy. It's just not so. They're not organized. They're not actively trying to tear down the country. They're not sneaking ied's into courthouses. For the most part, they're living under our radar. That's why they're so hard to find and send back.

"Invasion" allows us to lump rapists and killers into the same class as the woman who snuck in to clean floors for $3 an hour to send money back to her family. Both are criminals. Neither should have been allowed to sneak into the country. But I hope it's obvious that the level of force used to aprehend either them should be significantly different, as their threat to our social order is significantly different.

Calling them both "invaders" removes the necessity to think rationally about how they're dealt with. It means that the housekeeper whose only crime is paying some opportunist way to much money to be dropped off in South St. Louis gets let out of her home at gunpoint, just as the rapist is.

I don't like that. I think we should have to make the distinction - even if it's only in our heads - between someone who may kill us in our sleep and someone who simply minds their own business. When we become unwilling to do that by viewing all illegals as invaders, then it's a short step to viewing everyone who comes running across the desert as a potential bomb and justifying the use of any force necessary to stop them from crossing the border.

That's not a slippery slope. It's a very short inclined plane.

And yes, we should find illegals and send them back to their home countries. Their actions are an affront to the immigrants who come here legally through the processes we set forth. But, just as the guy sitting in his living room smoking a joint is not the same threat as the coked up drug lord inviting you to say hello to his automatic rifle, not all illegal aliens pose the same threat either.