What Part of “Illegal” Don’t You Understand? One Response: What About Rational Dialogue and Reasonable Debate Don’t YOU Understand?

Anti-immigrant activists often try to shut down the discussion of immigration reform with the seemingly simple question, “What Part of ‘Illegal’ Don’t You Understand?”  Indeed, just a little more than a week ago at an immigration conference at SMU Dedman School of Law in Dallas, I was posed this question from the audience — the first question of the day at an academic conference of law professors on immigration reform.  In an op/ed in the N.Y. Times, LAWRENCE DOWNES writes thoughtfully about the problems with the question.  He concludes:

“But at least `undocumented’ — and an even better word, `unauthorized’ — contain the possibility of reparation and atonement, and allow for a sensible reaction proportional to the offense. The paralysis in Congress and the country over fixing our immigration laws stems from our inability to get our heads around the wrenching change involved in making an illegal person legal. Think of doing that with a crime, like cocaine dealing or arson. Unthinkable!

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Meanwhile, out on the edges of the debate — edges that are coming closer to the mainstream every day — bigots pour all their loathing of Spanish-speaking people into the word. Rant about `illegals’ — call them congenital criminals, lepers, thieves, unclean — and people will nod and applaud. They will send money to your Web site and heed your calls to deluge lawmakers with phone calls and faxes. Your TV ratings will go way up.

This is not only ugly, it is counterproductive, paralyzing any effort toward immigration reform. Comprehensive legislation in Congress and sensible policies at the state and local level have all been stymied and will be forever, as long as anything positive can be branded as `amnesty for illegals.’

We are stuck with a bogus, deceptive strategy — a 700-mile fence on a 2,000-mile border to stop a fraction of border crossers who are only 60 percent of the problem anyway, and scattershot raids to capture a few thousand members of a group of 12 million.

None of those enforcement policies have a trace of honesty or realism. At least they don’t reward illegals, and that, for now, is all this country wants.”

KJ