Whopper-sized spin
Commentary: Putting a sinister spin on immigration crackdown - CNN.com:
For as long as anyone can remember, illegal immigrants have been working with the aid of bogus Social Security numbers. And this was seen for what it was — a violation of U.S. immigration law.
But last week, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement rounded up 1,282 illegal immigrants by raiding meat processing plants in six states — Colorado, Texas, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and Utah — the operation was marketed as a crackdown on identity theft.
Wow, that is a stretch for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.Why in the world didn’t they just call it what it was, an illegal immigrant roundup. I don’t think that would be considered a bad thing in this particular political climate. Why did they have to go that step further and spin it as something scary?
If it is a surprise to ICE agents that illegal workers buy fake social security cards in order to work then what rock were they living under? “Identity theft” as it is known has nothing to do with using a ssi number to obtain work, it is someone stealing your ssi number and obtaining credit in your name and leaving you destitute. Believe me I am not saying I think it is a good or acceptable thing to buy a social security number to be able to work but it is not an identity theft ring in the sense we are accustomed to. I hate spin. I just hate it to no end and this is whopper sized spin.
Putting a sinister spin on immigration crackdown - CNN.com
Why spin this as a crackdown on identity theft? That has a sinister ring to it, as if illegal immigrants were using stolen credit cards and withdrawing money from ATMs. More than likely, the extent of it was that people were using Social Security numbers that didn’t belong to them so they could work at dirty jobs that Americans wouldn’t do — just as they have for generations, before the phrase “identity theft” entered the national lexicon.
ICE shouldn’t have to go to the trouble of bending the truth. If these workers were here illegally, and they got caught, then they should be deported. Period. The government has every right to do so, and those activists and union leaders who are complaining about families being separated and portraying ICE as the grinch who stole Christmas don’t have a leg to stand on.
People need to take responsibility for their actions, and that includes illegal immigrants. If they enter the country illegally, and secure employment illegally, they’re taking their chances. If, one day, their luck runs out, and their children wind up stranded because mommy or daddy got nabbed in an immigration raid, the blame lies with mommy or daddy.
He is right. Absolutely right! They were here and working illegally and no one can fault the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials for doing their jobs of deporting them. This is just another episode of using emotionally manipulative language to get a desired response. They knew there would be an outcry about doing this right before Christmas and so they spun it into something else. They have every reason and every right to do raids whenever the heck they want. You can’t employ undocumented workers and you can’t work in the United States without proper documentation. No double-speak needed.
Putting a sinister spin on immigration crackdown - CNN.com
Of course, if this were presented as an immigration crackdown, people might ask: Why were no charges filed against the employer — Swift & Co? The world’s second-largest meat processing company has “never condoned the employment of unauthorized workers, nor … knowingly hired such individuals,” Swift & Co. President and CEO Sam Rovit said in a statement.
Oh, I suppose now it makes a little more sense. Spin it as identity theft and you don’t have to file charges against the employers. Of course the employers knew they were illegal workers but the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act makes it a crime to “knowingly” hire illegal immigrants so of course they didn’t “know”. Close that loophole and the problem will evaporate.
Technorati Tags: Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, Raid, illegals, Immigrants, spin, double-speak, politics, illegal immigrants, meat packing, identity theft, scare tactics
Filed under: ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Raid, dishonesty, double-speak, fake, illegals, immigrants, immigration, politics, scare tactics, spin
