Semler Editorial, 9/9/07

In her editorial on September 9, Frances Semler wants to “whitewash” the Minuteman movement as being a patriotic group that cares only about enforcing U.S. laws against illegal immigration. The Minuteman movement is a vigilante group (President Bush’s label for the movement) with ties to white supremacist hate groups, as documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center and other civil rights organizations. Exactly what is patriotic about harassing the most powerless members of our society in the vain hope that they will finally have enough of it and pack up and leave? Although our immigration policy is badly in need of reform and our borders are indeed broken, vigilantes like the Minutemen add no more value to the needed reform than do overtly racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan (whose ranks have also been swelling). If the Minutemen are truly only concerned with enforcing U.S. laws, why aren’t they on every street corner with radar guns to nab the speeders – a “criminality” much more damaging to our society than illegal immigration. Our current immigration laws are unjust and will remain so until Congress can screw up enough courage to do the right thing and stop being intimidated by groups like the Minutemen. Unjust laws need to be changed, not scrupulously “enforced” by vigilante groups with questionable motives. We need immigration reform that provides a legal way for hard working human beings deeply imbedded in our society to get on a path to legalization through appropriate fines and penalties commensurate with their civil offense. Just because someone has run afoul of our exceedingly complex immigration laws (something quite easy to do even for the most careful visitors) doesn’t mean that banishment from family and employers is an appropriate solution. Fortify the borders all you want, but we need to stop destroying families for minor immigration violations and we need legal ways for workers and families to enter and remain in the U.S. Until this happens, all the Minutemen in the world will not effect a just and moral solution to our immigration problem.