"Dobbs" raid in Portland continues to reverberate
One of the strongest political weapons we have is language. In that vein, I'm proposing that the kind of raid conducted yesterday by immigration officials at a Portland fruit processing plant be dubbed "Dobbs" raids, after CNN employee Lou Dobbs. He's done more to foster xenophobia and racism in this country in the last year than probably any single individual, and that's saying a lot. Dobbs' program spread outright falsehoods earlier this year, making false claims about the rate of leprosy among immigrants.
It takes a real man to promote policies that traumatize thousands of women and children.
The Oregonian reports that working conditions at the fresh fruit plant are not good. Yes, people come here to enjoy standing in ice water with sharp implements all around. Freeloaders, right Dobbs?
Blogtown PDX says a Willamette Week article about the Fresh Del Monte plant was cited in the ICE complaint. You can find that WW article here.
An Oregonian workplace blog entry asks whether the raid was designed, as some are charging, to keep workers in line. ICE denies it, but if you were one of the workers, would you complain again?
Letters to the editor are a mixed bag. Clearly a lot of people take their thinking orders from Lou Dobbs, which is kind of pathetic. On the other hand, there are obviously many citizens who are disgusted and concerned about the actual human beings whose lives are being impacted.
There's a point at which policy debates have to yield to common sense. The irony is that the people rounded up at the fruit plant were working. You know, doing an honest day's work for low pay in miserable conditions. I guess that's only admirable to conservatives if you're the right color.
The falsification of identities is troubling, but it's also the product of the asinine immigration situation. It also appears that an employment agency was heavily involved, so the illegal actions were not limited to workers.
The policy needs to recognize basic facts. Workers want jobs and employers want workers. Employers should not be allowed to exploit immigrants, and in return we could fashion a policy that allows people to work legally with a possible path to citizenship. If people come here and work hard, obey the law and become members of the community, I don't see what the big problem is. We've had waves of immigration before, and it made us a stronger country.
As long as economic situations are dire in various countries, people will seek survival. We could at least try to come up with policies that would encourage better conditions in Mexico and other countries, but then that might involve something other than talking points, and (egads!) it could even entail upping our foreign aid expenditures from the one-half of one percent range. It wouldn't necessarily be easy, but long term it might be more productive.
It takes a real man to promote policies that traumatize thousands of women and children.
The Oregonian reports that working conditions at the fresh fruit plant are not good. Yes, people come here to enjoy standing in ice water with sharp implements all around. Freeloaders, right Dobbs?
Blogtown PDX says a Willamette Week article about the Fresh Del Monte plant was cited in the ICE complaint. You can find that WW article here.
An Oregonian workplace blog entry asks whether the raid was designed, as some are charging, to keep workers in line. ICE denies it, but if you were one of the workers, would you complain again?
Letters to the editor are a mixed bag. Clearly a lot of people take their thinking orders from Lou Dobbs, which is kind of pathetic. On the other hand, there are obviously many citizens who are disgusted and concerned about the actual human beings whose lives are being impacted.
There's a point at which policy debates have to yield to common sense. The irony is that the people rounded up at the fruit plant were working. You know, doing an honest day's work for low pay in miserable conditions. I guess that's only admirable to conservatives if you're the right color.
The falsification of identities is troubling, but it's also the product of the asinine immigration situation. It also appears that an employment agency was heavily involved, so the illegal actions were not limited to workers.
The policy needs to recognize basic facts. Workers want jobs and employers want workers. Employers should not be allowed to exploit immigrants, and in return we could fashion a policy that allows people to work legally with a possible path to citizenship. If people come here and work hard, obey the law and become members of the community, I don't see what the big problem is. We've had waves of immigration before, and it made us a stronger country.
As long as economic situations are dire in various countries, people will seek survival. We could at least try to come up with policies that would encourage better conditions in Mexico and other countries, but then that might involve something other than talking points, and (egads!) it could even entail upping our foreign aid expenditures from the one-half of one percent range. It wouldn't necessarily be easy, but long term it might be more productive.
