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  3. Is it racist to oppose illegal immigrants?

Is it racist to oppose illegal immigrants?

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    none_dc@lemmy.worldN This user is from outside of this forum
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    wrote last edited by
    #7

    Not all opposed to illegal immigration are racist, but (obviously) all racist are against illegal immigration (And immigration in general).

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      wrote last edited by
      #8

      It's racist to use immigration law to maintain a racial underclass. For instance, many essential agricultural workers in the US do not have access to the courts or law enforcement to protect their rights. If a citizen assaults one of these workers, the worker cannot safely report the assault to law enforcement without being punished for doing so.

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      • B [email protected]
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        wrote last edited by
        #9

        What a weird question.

        In chess, it is perfectly acceptable to play opposite of illegal immigrants and not racist at all. Why would you think that?

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          wrote last edited by
          #10

          Often people who oppose illegal immigration do seem to also be racists.

          I think if someone says they oppose illegal immigration and also genuinely feels they have done serious introspection and feel they are not racist, they might benefit from asking themselves what they dislike about illegal immigration and see if those things actually have the negative impacts they fear or if the negative impacts they see are but drops in the bucket compared to other sources of similar impacts.

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          • mydarkesttimeline01@ani.socialM [email protected]

            There for sure was.

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            wrote last edited by
            #11

            Where, and to what degree relative to Arabs or Latin Americans or whatever?

            Like sure, you can find someone who said it was bad somewhere, but even in places like Romania or Poland they were never the main target of the xenophobic rage.

            D mydarkesttimeline01@ani.socialM 2 Replies Last reply
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            • B [email protected]
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              wrote last edited by
              #12

              In a perfect world, immigration would just be regulated due to welfare and legal reasons, which seems reasonable enough. In reality you might want to question why some legislation actually exists. Is it reasonable, or is its whole purpose to prevent some immigration?

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              • C [email protected]

                Where, and to what degree relative to Arabs or Latin Americans or whatever?

                Like sure, you can find someone who said it was bad somewhere, but even in places like Romania or Poland they were never the main target of the xenophobic rage.

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                wrote last edited by [email protected]
                #13

                Thats because the media didnt try to cause mass hysteria. Man you guys are so easily manipulated by media i think we should force psychological classes so you can see the warning signs of manipulation

                Edit: you are the easiest people to manipulate and its already obvious.

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                • B [email protected]
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                  wrote last edited by
                  #14

                  First off: technically, almost everyone opposes illegal immigration—the issue is whether it should be reduced by deporting undocumented immigrants, or by changing the laws to legalize more of them. (The exceptions who do support illegal immigration as-is are generally employers who exploit immigrants.)

                  Second: If the current law is racist, then supporting increased enforcement is racist while supporting reform (probably) isn’t. (And I would describe a law as racist if it disproportionately impacts racial minorities when alternative laws with an equivalent effect on public safety would not.)

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                  • C [email protected]

                    Not intrinsically, but pretty commonly it is driven by bigotry over culture, religion or skin colour.

                    You know all the people up in arms over the wave of Ukrainian refugees? Oh wait, there's nothing of the sort? Well, there you go.

                    scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.techS This user is from outside of this forum
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                    wrote last edited by [email protected]
                    #15

                    I think it's very telling that it's not about "How do we allow them in legally" but it's about "Kick them out". If they were simply mad about illegal immigration then the natural discourse would be "Why do they not come over legally then?" The answer there is that of course it's insanely difficult to legally become a citizen of the US, and it can take years - even decades, but people have a family that's hungry now.

                    The discourse going to "Kick them out" shows that it's not about legal immigration at all, it's that they don't want a specific type of person around them. Otherwise we'd be having fairs and events to help people get their citizenship right now. After all they want to be here, the even want to pay taxes. If they just need to come in legally then the vast majority would, if our process allowed it.

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                    • D [email protected]

                      Thats because the media didnt try to cause mass hysteria. Man you guys are so easily manipulated by media i think we should force psychological classes so you can see the warning signs of manipulation

                      Edit: you are the easiest people to manipulate and its already obvious.

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                      wrote last edited by [email protected]
                      #16

                      Uh-huh. Straight to forced re-education programs and shadowy conspiracies.

                      When the fascists send people to argue for them, they're not sending their best.

                      Edit: Cool cowardly edit.

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                      • scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.techS [email protected]

                        I think it's very telling that it's not about "How do we allow them in legally" but it's about "Kick them out". If they were simply mad about illegal immigration then the natural discourse would be "Why do they not come over legally then?" The answer there is that of course it's insanely difficult to legally become a citizen of the US, and it can take years - even decades, but people have a family that's hungry now.

                        The discourse going to "Kick them out" shows that it's not about legal immigration at all, it's that they don't want a specific type of person around them. Otherwise we'd be having fairs and events to help people get their citizenship right now. After all they want to be here, the even want to pay taxes. If they just need to come in legally then the vast majority would, if our process allowed it.

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                        wrote last edited by
                        #17

                        The answer there is that of course it’s insanely difficult to legally become a citizen of the US, and it can take years - even decades, but people have a family that’s hungry now.

                        Same for other places. Even Canada, which is apparently one of the best destinations, has a system that's poorly designed to the point of maliciousness.

                        witchfire@lemmy.worldW 1 Reply Last reply
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                          wrote last edited by
                          #18

                          Most of the current immigration laws are due to racist intent. In the 80s they didn't like how many Mexicans were coming across the border each year to do farm work. The workers would come, stay while there was work to be had, and then return home. When new laws were enacted making it harder for workers to get across the border, there came a class of people that would sneak the workers across. And this came with a fee from the workers. Now it costs them more to get here, so they need to stay longer to make up the money. It became easier to just find a place to live in the US all year round.

                          The US needs the Mexican workers. To simultaneously demand help, and punish them for showing up to help is dumb, and I suspect fueled by racist thoughts. The immigrants boost our economy, help feed our population, and are less likely to break laws that citizens. There's a whole (probably many) book about it, and it's even in comic form. https://www.amazon.com/Open-Borders-Science-Ethics-Immigration/dp/1250316960

                          While we need to know who is coming across our border to prevent spys and terrorists, the current laws make those entrants easier to hide, as there is now a whole industry to sneak people across.

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                          • D [email protected]

                            Thats because the media didnt try to cause mass hysteria. Man you guys are so easily manipulated by media i think we should force psychological classes so you can see the warning signs of manipulation

                            Edit: you are the easiest people to manipulate and its already obvious.

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                            wrote last edited by
                            #19

                            Hopefully you’ll be in that class.

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                              wrote last edited by [email protected]
                              #20

                              Not automatically, unless you're only opposed to illegal immigrants of specific races.

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                              • C [email protected]

                                Uh-huh. Straight to forced re-education programs and shadowy conspiracies.

                                When the fascists send people to argue for them, they're not sending their best.

                                Edit: Cool cowardly edit.

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                                wrote last edited by
                                #21

                                No no... that's their best.

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                                • C [email protected]

                                  Not intrinsically, but pretty commonly it is driven by bigotry over culture, religion or skin colour.

                                  You know all the people up in arms over the wave of Ukrainian refugees? Oh wait, there's nothing of the sort? Well, there you go.

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                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #22

                                  Exactly. In and of itself, criticizing illegal immigration is simply criticizing an illegal act. However, it is usually steeped in racist logic and arguments. Talking about how people who come over our southern border are genetically inferior and prone to crime is racist as fuck. Adding roadblocks to immigration for brown people while simultaneously streamlining immigration of white South Africans (the guys who did Apartheid) is racist as fuck.

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                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #23

                                    Every time I meet someone who opposes illegal immigration but claims to support legal immigration I ask one question. If the law changed so that all immigration was legal, you'd be fine with it, right?

                                    Nobody so far has been fine with it. I conclude that the question of legality is a dodge for people who are embarrassed about their actual motives.

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                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #24

                                      YES.

                                      If you're an American, our entire history of immigration legislation is racism bundled on racism following in the tradition of racism. Were it not for chattel slavery and our betrayal of the native tribes our racist immigration laws would be the most shameful part of our history.

                                      And if you're not American, your own country's immigration laws are almost certainly based on either racism or "nationalism", with the latter mostly being a holdover from when "French" and "English" were considered different races.

                                      Unlawful emmigration to a country should be, at worst, a bureaucratic fine and probation. Anything more is simply bigotry in a polite suit.

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                                        wrote last edited by [email protected]
                                        #25

                                        I worry a lot of it is human trafficking or at least human trafficking lite. A lot of employers really like having employees they don't actually have to pay properly or obey workplace safety and other protections for, and who will be afraid to speak up about fraud and other illegal practices.

                                        But to me that would be easily solved if we only made it illegal to hire people without a permit, but never deport or otherwise penalize the workers. And publicize that heavily. So if you don't have a permit and your boss is abusing you, just call the hotline on the billboard and let us know and we'll arrest them and you can go find another sketchy employer and tell on them too when they piss you off.

                                        No one would be hiring people without permits if there were actual consequences for the employer. We wouldn't be stuck with trying to figure out how to deport people and whatnot. They'd only be able to hire people the law is already protecting as workers. but nobody actually wants to hold rich people accountable for having caused all this trouble in the first place.

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                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #26

                                          I wouldn't say it's considered to be racist to oppose outlaws who came here without the proper paperwork, visa, etc.

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