By José Reyes, Reporter
ROME, Ga. — In politicizing the immigration crisis, many turn to language that seeks to dehumanize and demonize human beings who cross our borders without government authorization. For example, politicians and talking heads use “illegal immigrant” with no regard for its meaning.
Such reckless use of language demonizes this already vulnerable population. Immigrants, through this language, are cast as “unauthorized,” “illegal” or “undocumented.” It is as though immigrants must fit a certain category of disdain to justify the abuse.
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has used “illegal immigrant” in his press releases, tweets and rhetoric. “Announcing a $50K reward for a @TxDPS top 10 fugitive who is in the country illegally and killed five illegal immigrants Friday night,” Abbott stated.
Abbott’s rhetoric further “others” immigrants. Elie Wiesel, Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor, pointed out the influence that careless word choices can have on public policy and lawmaking. “Because once you label a people ‘illegal,’ that is exactly what the Nazis did to the Jews,” Wiesel once said, in response to María Hinojosa, a Mexican American journalist. “They have committed an illegal act. They are immigrants who crossed without papers. They are immigrants who crossed without permission. They are living in this country without permission. But they are not an illegal people.”
Because the notion of an “other” depends on a default, which in this case is white, the use of “illegal immigrants” is racist. It is also dehumanizing and, in this case, disrespectful to the families of the victims.
In the bigger picture, this “othering” rhetoric is negatively affecting lawmaking and public policy on immigration. Abbott’s Operation Lone Star labels recent migrant crossings as an “invasion,” justifying the placement of a 1,000-foot buoy barrier in the Rio Grande. México’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the U.S. District Court in Austin each have raised the concerns that the barrier may limit and delay Border Patrol response to migrants who are at risk while crossing the border. One would not describe Americans leaving their home state to relocate to another after a natural disaster as an “invasion” of said state. Neither would they hinder any public safety response nor create barriers to impede safe passage. Immigrants have become Abbott’s scapegoats for crime in Texas, further enabling abuse.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed America’s strongest anti-immigration legislation, that uses terms such as “illegal aliens.” Senate Bill 1718 requires the use of the E-Verify Process, which requires employers to verify eligibility for employment. It also makes it illegal for anyone to transport undocumented persons into or within Florida. Further, the bill invalidates any out-of-state licenses or identification documents granted to anyone who is undocumented. DeSantis’ bill is discriminatory and is an attack on immigrants, who have come to the country for opportunity. The bill is ignorant of the needs of immigrants and poses a threat to their personhood by restricting their livelihood.
DeSantis’ actions and those similar to his create a breeding ground for hate against immigrants. It allows for the public to take this harmful thinking and manifest it into greater degrees of hate such as hate speech, hate groups and hate crimes.
“Illegal aliens are not ‘immigrants.’ Immigrants have Green Cards and do not require amnesty,” states The Dustin Inman Society website, an anti-immigrant hate group in Georgia. “We support English as the official language of government in the United States.”
Rhetoric that criminalizes personhood and fosters hate callously ignores the complex web of problems that present individuals with no other option but to migrate to the United States. It ignores civil wars, gang violence, lack of resources and America’s own contributions to unrest in other countries. “Illegal alien” and its variations categorize immigrants as criminals and, thus, as some fraction less than fully human. As sub-human, their human rights can be violated because they no longer are eligible to claim human rights.
The rhetoric also ignores the simple truth that immigrants are positive contributors to society. Immigrants are taxpayers, workers, inventors, PTA members, community leaders, church attendees, parents and neighbors.
The American Immigration Council has found that within Texas the increase in immigrants has helped fill gaps in the workforce.
“The growth in the immigrant population has helped strengthen the Texas labor force; immigrants comprised 21.9 percent of the state’s overall workforce, despite making up just 17.1 percent of its population in 2019,” according to the American Immigration Council.
Americans say they value independence, opportunity, and work, and immigrants come with those values in mind. They are not here to mooch, seek handouts and steal jobs. They seek opportunity, and they wish to work and provide for their families. It is our moral responsibility to resist racist language that leads to dangerous public policy and betrays American values.
Within this piece, the focus is language. However, there is a network of people, services, institutions and government agencies that must work comprehensively to solve the immigration crisis. Immigrants are not illegal and the first step to seeing that is recognizing the humanity of all human beings.