As the immigration debate is further marred by the attempts of xenophobic Republicans to exploit the Boston tragedy, I feel that it is especially important to reevaluate some of the terms we used and their inherent implications. Specifically, why do we continue to refer to undocumented workers as illegal immigrants or illegal aliens?
Language is perhaps the most powerful social construct, and it often shapes and defines the limitations of our critical thought. The phrase “illegal immigrant” is a loaded term which undermines reasoned discourse and promotes racism because it dehumanizes undocumented workers, marginalizing their very existence. It defines them by their immigration status alone, completely discounting their individual differences and contributions to society. These people are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, sometimes samaritans — it is wrong to collectively strip them of their identities and group them together as if they were cattle.
Do we refer to any other people as “illegal?” Illegal is a word which applies to actions, and not people. If you possess marijuana or are publicly intoxicated, we don’t refer to use as an “illegal person,” only as a person who has committed an illegal action. A person cannot be illegal; even the most heinous criminal is still entitled to fundamental human rights.
Moreover, being undocumented is a civil violation and not a criminal offense. Undocumented workers are not committing a crime by remaining in the United States without proper paperwork, thus making the term “illegal immigrant” even more patently absurd.We should not use this term for the same reasons why we don’t refer to the mentally challenged as “retards” and people of color by their various ethnic slurs. All of these terms define people based upon one thing and unfairly tie them to their associated false stereotypes, something which Republican strategists such as Frank Luntz actively encourage because it galvanizes animosity and fear, impeding efforts at meaningful immigration reform. Though I suppose “illegal immigrant” is still better than the term Republican Congressman Don Young uses, further evidence of primitive and racist thinking among the right-wing.
Undocumented workers are not the parasites which this derogatory term implies they are. They pay sales, property, and payroll taxes without receiving any of the benefits from Social Security or Medicare, which they pay into. Low-skill undocumented workers are frequently castigated for “stealing jobs” in such highly lucrative and rewarding fields such as agriculture, construction, and cleaning. But by working these undesirable jobs, they burgeon the economy and create better opportunities for the rest of the country. Their hard work allows for greater specialization in the workforce and improved efficiency, along with lower prices for consumers. If 5.4% of the nation’s workforce tomorrow simply disappeared, then the economy would collapse.
President Obama has been an almost unfathomable disappointment on immigration, though admittedly this is consistent with his general track record of underachievement. His administration has deported 400,000 undocumented workers last year, a new record. Obama is breaking up families and punishing people who were brought here as children. And while undocumented workers were wrong to come here without going through the proper process, it is ridiculous to blame them for choosing to circumvent a process which often takes decades. We all know somebody who has committed a civil or criminal offense at some point in their life — from jaywalking to tax evasion — but we do not direct the same level of vitriol and disgust towards them that we do towards undocumented workers who only wanted a better life for themselves and their families, and were willing to work hard to accomplish that. And part of the reason why we are willing to embrace Obama’s heartless and destructive deportations is because of the language we use: “illegal immigrants.” It is dehumanizing and insinuates that they are here only to cause trouble and need to be rapidly eliminated.
The bipartisan “Gang of Eight” has proposed reform, which far from ideal, is better than continuing our backwards and impossibly bureaucratic current policy. We cannot allow this progress to be stalled by the attempts of Neanderthals to derail reform by somehow linking it to the Boston bombings. A good start is to end the use of discriminatory and archaic terms. The Associated Press and the New York Times have already started this process, and all other media outlets should follow their lead. Words matter.
As the immigration debate is further marred by the attempts of xenophobic Republicans to exploit the Boston tragedy, I feel that it is especially important to reevaluate some of the terms we used and their inherent implications. Specifically, why do we continue to refer to undocumented workers as illegal immigrants or illegal aliens?
Language is perhaps the most powerful social construct, and it often shapes and defines the limitations of our critical thought. The phrase “illegal immigrant” is a loaded term which undermines reasoned discourse and promotes racism because it dehumanizes undocumented workers, marginalizing their very existence. It defines them by their immigration status alone, completely discounting their individual differences and contributions to society. These people are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, sometimes samaritans — it is wrong to collectively strip them of their identities and group them together as if they were cattle.
Do we refer to any other people as “illegal?” Illegal is a word which applies to actions, and not people. If you possess marijuana or ar
e publicly intoxicated, we don’t refer to use as an “illegal person,” only as a person who has committed an illegal action. A person cannot be illegal; even the most heinous criminal is still entitled to fundamental human rights.
Moreover, being undocumented is a civil violation and not a criminal offense. Undocumented workers are not committing a crime by remaining in the United States without proper paperwork, thus making the term “illegal immigrant” even more patently absurd.We should not use this term for the same reasons why we don’t refer to the mentally challenged as “retards” and people of color by their various ethnic slurs. All of these terms define people based upon one thing and unfairly tie them to their associated false stereotypes, something which Republican strategists such as Frank Luntz actively encourage because it galvanizes animosity and fear, impeding efforts at meaningful immigration reform. Though I suppose “illegal immigrant” is still better than the term Republican Congressman Don Young uses, further evidence of primitive and racist thinking among the right-wing.
Undocumented workers are not the parasites which this derogatory term implies they are. They pay sales, property, and payroll taxes without receiving any of the benefits from Social Security or Medicare, which they pay into. Low-skill undocumented workers are frequently castigated for “stealing jobs” in such highly lucrative and rewarding fields such as agriculture, construction, and cleaning. But by working these undesirable jobs, they burgeon the economy and create better opportunities for the rest of the country. Their hard work allows for greater specialization in the workforce and improved efficiency, along with lower prices for consumers. If 5.4% of the nation’s workforce tomorrow simply disappeared, then the economy would collapse.
President Obama has been an almost unfathomable disappointment on immigration, though admittedly this is consistent with his general track record of underachievement. His administration has deported 400,000 undocumented workers last year, a new record. Obama is breaking up families and punishing people who were brought here as children. And while undocumented workers were wrong to come here without going through the proper process, it is ridiculous to blame them for choosing to circumvent a process which often takes decades. We all know somebody who has committed a civil or criminal offense at some point in their life — from jaywalking to tax evasion — but we do not direct the same level of vitriol and disgust towards them that we do towards undocumented workers who only wanted a better life for themselves and their families, and were willing to work hard to accomplish that. And part of the reason why we are willing to embrace Obama’s heartless and destructive deportations is because of the language we use: “illegal immigrants.” It is dehumanizing and insinuates that they are here only to cause trouble and need to be rapidly eliminated.
The bipartisan “Gang of Eight” has proposed reform, which far from ideal, is better than continuing our backwards and impossibly bureaucratic current policy. We cannot allow this progress to be stalled by the attempts of Neanderthals to derail reform by somehow linking it to the Boston bombings. A good start is to end the use of discriminatory and archaic terms. The Associated Press and the New York Times have already started this process, and all other media outlets should follow their lead. Words matter.
Original Author: Michael Sun