October 28, 2007

LAT enable illegal immigration (San Diego fires)

As a cost-saving move, let me suggest that the Los Angeles Times outsources their coverage to the Western Growers Association, the Mexican government, or the Democratic Party. That way, "reporters" Richard Marosi and Ari Bloomekatz can achieve their true calling of selling used tires, and there'd be little difference between the outsourced version and that which they provide in "Evacuations raise deportation fears" about illegal aliens and the San Diego wild fires (link).

In fact, their article is remarkably similar to the other instances of this new subgenre, such as that from Leslie Berestein of the SDUT or Amy Isackson of NPR/KPBS. They rely on two quote sources already seen in those previous articles (Remy Bermudez and Enrique Morones) and about the only difference is that they've managed to be even more "liberal" (i.e., in effect supporting serf labor):

Disasters can magnify the marginalized status of people here illegally... Immigrant rights groups and the American Civil Liberties Union, however, claim that authorities have created a climate of intimidation through neglect and such policies as asking for identification at some shelters... ...The mere presence of Border Patrol was enough to scare off some immigrants... ...The ACLU and immigrant rights groups claim illegal immigrants were subjected to racial profiling at Qualcomm and were abused by some volunteers who questioned their legal status...

They don't mention that asking for ID is designed to help prevent fraud; even the AP has noted that. Real reporting would involve asking the ACLU exactly how they intend to prevent fraud (and perhaps whether they really believe in "to each according to his needs" or whether they want more).

[San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders], [spokesman Fred Sainz] said, has always looked out for the needs of the migrant community and has tried to protect them from encounters with Minutemen and other groups that oppose illegal immigration... "The mayor has bent over backward to protect the migrant population," said Sainz.

Not being familiar with that mayor, I don't know whether that's because he's a "liberal" or because he's actually bending over backwards to protect their crooked employers, or both.

The article ends with a plea to be more "sensitive" to the feelings of those who aren't supposed to be here in the first place; the use of the term "immigrant" is meant to mislead:

Critics say local and federal officials should be more sensitive to how immigrants might perceive things. A checkpoint that might seem inconvenient but understandable to a citizen could represent potential deportation to an immigrant, they say.

Posted to Immigration2007b at October 28, 2007 10:59 AM