Howard Dean’s recent comment, “two Republican congressmen, Jim Sensenbrenner and Tom Tancredo have incredible anti-immigrant legislation,” got me thinking. Of course there is the obvious response that the legislation is against illegal immigration, not legal immigration, but the problem here is that the Left sets the language of the debate here. Why do we call people who don’t belong here immigrants if they are here illegally?
When someone is invited to one’s own home they are a guest. By the same token, the term immigrant carries the connotation of someone who migrated from one country to another by legal means. A sense that they are invited to come or allowed to come is inherent to the word, just as it is with a guest.
Conversely, if someone unlawfully enters one’s home, they are not a guest, are they? No. They are intruders. They are trespassers. They have committed the act of breaking and entering. Why would we call trespassers and intruders the international equivalent of guests? We should call illegal “immigrants” what they are - illegal intruders, or illegal trespassers, who have unlawfully broken and entered our country.
How far could a Leftist get arguing that we should not allow illegal intruders into the country? But a Leftist would call the intruder an immigrant, and drop the illegal portion, thus making us sound mean not to allow politely invited guests into our homeland. This is not the case of course, but one of the keys to winning an argument is using the right words.
The Democrats are experts at manipulating the language, but the Republicans are not too keen on this area yet. Time after time the President and fellow Republicans are trying to persuade the American public using the Democrats terms, instead of more favorable terms, thus making their arguments seem contradictory. For example, why should we crack down on guest workers, or tighten restrictions on undocumented workers? We shouldn’t, but even the President, is using those words to describe people who enter our homeland unlawfully. Now lets rephrase the question. Should we crack down on unlawful trespassers, or tighten restrictions on illegal intruders? Of course we should!
Let’s use the right words to frame the issue.
2004–2008
1 response so far ↓
1 Rosemary // Jun 15, 2005 at 9:33 pm
Exactly! That is why I wrote in my first comment that many of us grassroots supporters are not sending money.
The proper term is “illegal alien.” Even President Bush understands this. Do not be mistaken, he does.
The problem I have is this: What is it they do not understand about “illegal”?
I understand there are many, too many, of these illegal aliens on our shores. So what do they do? They invite more! Are you aware that between 1997-2003 86% of the people who did not have health care were illegal aliens? I have a way to fix this problem…hehehe.
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