Rise of the immigrants

Manifesto

CNN's Lou Dobbs has been on a tirade against illegal immigration for as long as I can remember. Today, he writes about the protests that took place all over the country in support of immigration. Dobbs, of course, believes this is a mockery. As he says, the protests are about supporting those who break the law. To his credit, Dobbs supports the right to protest even if he doesn't support the purpose of the protest. But Mr. Dobbs descends to a rhetorical abyss by stating that the immigration movement has been coopted by radicals. His proof:

But only one newspaper, to its credit, reported that illegal aliens and their supporters' boycott of the national economy on the First of May is clear evidence that radical elements have seized control of the movement. The Washington Post, alone among national papers, reported that ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) has become an active promoter of the national boycott.

Some illegal immigration and open borders activists in the Hispanic community are deeply concerned about the involvement of the left-wing radical group. But others, like Juan Jose Gutierrez, whom I've interviewed a number of times over the past several months, manages to be both director of Latino Movement USA and a representative of ANSWER.
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Just how significant is the impact of leftists within the illegal immigration movement? It is no accident that they chose May 1 as their day of demonstration and boycott. It is the worldwide day of commemorative demonstrations by various socialist, communist, and even anarchic organizations.

So Mr. Dobbs cites a group that nobody's ever heard of, calls it radical without attribution or support and then cites the fact that the protest occured on May Day, which was a holiday in the U.S. under the Red Scare following the First World War. Wow, really radical influence. The Commies really are taking over.

Aside from the fact the Mr. Dobbs is pulling arguments out of his well-stuffed ass, Mr. Dobbs should perhaps pay a little more attention to those who are leading the anti-immigration crusade. While Mr. Dobbs is concerned with "leftist radicals" who are doing nothing more than exercising their CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS (ironically only those who are citizens, but still), the anti-immigration crusade is being influenced by openly violent racists. Just recently some of these Americans created a videogame whereby the player shoots "Mexicans" as they try to cross the border. A radio host in Phoenix suggested that Americans pick a night each week at random and shoot any person that tries to cross the Mexican-American border. Plus, there are myriad stories that the Minutemen who are using vigilante justice to prevent illegal border crossings have been strongly supported and led by extremist racist groups. This on top of the countless threats and petty intimidation that has been reported across the country.

But, according to Lou Dobbs, it is the protesters who are dangerously being led by radicals. It is more than a little ironic that the immigrants that Mr. Dobbs disparages as being taken over by radicals that are the groups exercising the most American of rights and traditions, civil disobedience and freedom of speech, while it is those in the group that Mr. Dobbs supports, made up of American citizens, that are violating everything this country stands for by advocating violence and hate. Just further proof that being born in America does not necessarily make you an American.