Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Is there really an illegal immigration crisis in the US?

roachboy · 06-11-2007, 07:45 AM

ng: the terms are not really interchangeable.
in the term "illegal immigrant" the charge that seems to freak people out is in the second term, which presupposes that the folk who are here to work intend to stay here.
that is false simply because "reverse immigration" rates are not factored into the debate. even amongst documented workers, the rate of return is very high.
amongst the undocumented, the rates are probably higher still.
so there is no reason to think of these folk as an immigrant population: they are parts of a migrant labor pool.
so the analogy is false.

so say that if you are driving without a license makes you an illegal driver is much more limited: it simply states that at the time you were presumably busted, you were driving. calling an undocumented worker an illegal immigrant makes a whole sequence of other assumptions that the term "illegal driver" does not make.

seriously: without the category of "immigrant" the entire fantasy of being-invaded by Them falls apart. you could still get riled up on legal grounds, if you like: but the way that would work logically (and politically) would be totally different. it would be much harder to move from "these people do not obey the rules" to "these people are trying to take over the heimat"....

06-11-2007, 07:45 AM	#62 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	ng: the terms are not really interchangeable. in the term "illegal immigrant" the charge that seems to freak people out is in the second term, which presupposes that the folk who are here to work intend to stay here. that is false simply because "reverse immigration" rates are not factored into the debate. even amongst documented workers, the rate of return is very high. amongst the undocumented, the rates are probably higher still. so there is no reason to think of these folk as an immigrant population: they are parts of a migrant labor pool. so the analogy is false. so say that if you are driving without a license makes you an illegal driver is much more limited: it simply states that at the time you were presumably busted, you were driving. calling an undocumented worker an illegal immigrant makes a whole sequence of other assumptions that the term "illegal driver" does not make. seriously: without the category of "immigrant" the entire fantasy of being-invaded by Them falls apart. you could still get riled up on legal grounds, if you like: but the way that would work logically (and politically) would be totally different. it would be much harder to move from "these people do not obey the rules" to "these people are trying to take over the heimat".... __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 06-11-2007 at 07:52 AM..