Sowing unwarranted fear in the Latin community

I read somewhere that the freedom of speech doesn’t include yelling ‘Fire’ in a crowded theater. If that’s true, then I suppose the freedom of the press doesn’t include yelling ‘Migra!’ in Prince William County as the Washington Post’s Pamela Constable does this morning.

Although not yet enacted into law, the resolution passed by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors has created a sense of siege and solidarity throughout the county’s wider Latino community of about 30,000. Rumors circulate that people will be arrested if they board buses or drop off their children at school. Some legal residents, who bought homes and opened businesses, expecting to stay for years, say they are thinking of leaving.

That seems innocuous enough, however, Constable, in two pages of writing, doesn’t ever tell us what the measure includes. You have to go elswehere to find out what this racist legislation is;

The bill would require police to check the residency status of anyone suspected of breaking the law. The bill would also require schools, libraries, and swimming pools to verify the immigration status of anyone using county services.

Oh, my goodness – how draconian. Imagine making taxpayers identify themselves before using the services they pay for with their taxes. imagine making criminals identify themselves. How absolutely horrible. Actually, I think it’s horrible that it hasn’t been done up to this point.

A sense of seige. Having to identify yourself creates a sense of seige. Funny – I have to identify myself all of the time. My wife, the legal Latin immigrant, has to identify herself all of the time. In fact, in the DC area nearly everyone has to identify themselves constantly – we all have ID badges and pass through security every time we enter or leave a building. I don’t feel under seige. Of course, I might if I’d committed a criminal act and I was worried about being arrested all of the time – but that’s not the case. 

And it appears that it’s working, according to Constable;

Gilbert Mejia, a Salvadoran restaurant owner, was the host of a recent meeting at his La Frontera restaurant in Gaithersburg. He said the fear of arrest and harassment among Latino immigrants has become so widespread that business at his restaurant has fallen sharply this summer.

“Look at this place. Normally, we would be full for lunch,” said Mejia, gesturing around a room full of empty tables. “People are afraid the attitude from Prince William will drift here, that Maryland will be the next target. I have been in this country 27 years, and I’ve invested hundreds of thousands of dollars. We need to know what’s coming our way.”

Of course, we can’t have a WaPo story without hyperbole;

One was Jesus Calva, 40, who lives with his wife and two children in Lake Ridge, a woodsy townhouse community. Calva entered the United States illegally as a teenager and started working as a tree trimmer for $3 an hour. Today, he makes $27 an hour with a large construction company, and he helped rebuild the Pentagon after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. On his living room wall is a certificate of thanks signed by former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

“I have always appreciated this country, and it really upsets me to hear about this law,” said Calva, who spoke briefly at last Tuesday’s hearing. Afterward, he strode outside, sat down on a curb and began to weep in frustration. “Even when I was illegal, I worked hard for everything I got, and I paid a lot of taxes,” he said. “If they don’t like us, why don’t they just say so? I love my home, but I don’t want to live in a place where I am hated.”

Um, Jesus, no one has said they “hate” you. It’s just that those of us who’ve built this country into the economic and cultural powerhouse it’s become don’t want it to fall into the desperate morass of the other American countries. Anyone looking at this issue with open eyes (instead of a closed racist mind) would have to admit that illegal immigration needs to be blunted – now!

Every story about immigrants in the Washington Post has some poor LEGAL immigrant whining that they’re going to lose their civil rights because they might have an accent or wear sandals or something. Like what happened to Cheech Marin in “Born in East LA” – a movie, not based on actual experiences, a work of complete fantasy – including the required happy ending. I’m pretty sure a check of ICE’s records would reveal that it’s never happened – I carry ID everytime I leave the house, I carry my passport everytime I leave the hotel in Central America. I really don’t see what’s so damn difficult about doing it here.

Category: Illegal Immigrants, Media, Society