SENDING IMMIGRANTS BACK WITH A "BULLET IN THEIR HEAD"

Engaging in the health care debate seems to be all the rage these days. Everyone is a part of it -- from the heavily pedantic policy wonk to the overly misinformed town hall participant. The participation of the latter, however, is becoming increasingly worrisome insofar as it fuels anti-immigrant sentiment.

At town hall meetings across the country, citizens are outraged by the supposed inclusion of undocumented immigrants in the purview of the new health care bill. (In fact, there is no singular bill but rather proposals). Even when they are told that there are no provisions for the coverage of undocumented immigrants, they angrily retort that there are. They still believe that rumor even as reliable fact checkers have concluded that THERE IS NO HEALTH CARE COVERAGE FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS BEING PROPOSED.
Nevertheless, fueled by sensationalist emails, they come in droves to town hall meetings to "hold their representatives accountable" for this "miscarriage of justice."

I don't have a problem with people being concerned about health care; in fact, I encourage everyone to be informed about the issue and participate in the debate. What I do have a problem with is when misinformation turns into hateful rhetoric. Outside a recent town hall meeting in New Hampshire, an angry protester exclaimed that immigrants should be sent back with a "bullet in their head [sic]."

During a town-hall event in Portsmouth, N.H., last week, an unidentified protester outside the event questioned why the government should spend money on providing services to illegal immigrants — and went so far as to call for undocumented aliens to be killed. “Why are we bankrupting this country for 21 million illegals who should be sent on the first bus one way back from wherever they came from. We don’t need illegals. Send them home once. Send them home with a bullet in their head the second time,” the man said, according to video of the demonstration.

I've become generally immune to hate speech (and let's face it, that's what that was) about undocumented immigrants. As one myself, I've tried to look past the ignorance because I understand that the subject of immigration is inherently contentious. There's also something to be said about repetition bringing about numbness. But yet, I can't help but be utterly disgusted by that quote. It's sickening. Such language has no place in the debate, regardless of the ways in which health care evokes heightened emotions. It's simply inexcusable.

The tone of this debate better change or it's going to get uglier.

Don't Sound The Alarm Too Quickly

Because health care reform has hit a speed bumb (an understatement, to be sure), President Obama has explicitly stated that immigration reform won't be taken up until early next year. However, in what I hope will assuage the fears of fellow DREAMies, Obama's statement doesn't necessarily mean that nothing will be done in the interim. As we know, there is much to be done before the start of the formal debate. Obama has tasked Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the DHS with a lot of the preliminary work, and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) has pledged to have a draft bill ready within the next few weeks.






Understandably, Obama's statement has caused much frustration within the DREAM universe. Nevertheless, his statement changes very little in the discourse. Greg Siskind has recently commented that an early 2010 target date for reform was already the most realistic scenario, nowithstanding the fact that 2010 is an election year.

To my fellow DREAMies:

I can understand your frustration, and it is certainly an emotion that I share. But before we drive ourselves crazy, it's best to step back and take stock of the situation. Despite Obama's seemingly empty rhetoric and the continued presence of the loud, extremist xenophobic bloc in the debate, 2009-10 is our best chance since CIR 2006 for reform. Many are in agreement that if Congress cannot enact immigration reform now, it may not be enacted for another generation. Moreover, key GOP senators, namely Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John Cornyn (R-TX) have publically expressed their willingness to move forward with immigration. And while we can't be sure if Cornyn's statement was made in good faith, it is better than nothing at this point.