GOP Debate Puts National Spotlight On Fox's Use Of "Illegals" Slur
At the Fox News-Google GOP presidential debate, co-moderator Chris Wallace used the pejorative term "illegals" to refer to undocumented immigrants and read a question from the public that used the term, as well. Journalists have called on the media to stop using the term "illegals," but Fox's "straight news" shows use it consistently nonetheless.
Wallace Uses Term "Illegals" Twice Himself, Asks Question From Public That Uses It Three Times
Wallace Tells Romney, "You Vetoed Legislation To Provide Interstate Tuition Rates To The Children Of Illegals." From the debate:
WALLACE: Governor Romney, I want to continue a conversation that you had with Governor Perry in the last debate. In Massachusetts, you vetoed legislation to provide in-state tuition rates to the children of illegals. Governor Perry, of course, signed the Texas DREAM Act to do exactly that.
But what about Governor Perry's argument that it's better to get these kids an education and to get them jobs than to consign them just to being a burden on the state? [Fox News, Fox News-Google Presidential Debate, 9/22/11]
Question Chosen For Inclusion In Debate Uses "Illegals" Three Times. From the debate:
WALLACE: Governor Perry, I'm going to ask you a question, so you don't need to respond to him, because you're going to get a full minute to answer your question, which is on directly this point. You're the candidate whose name, by a wide margin, came up most often in the questions being submitted to all of you candidates about immigration.
Dave Hollenbeck of Arizona sent this: "To date, it appears that you have not tried to stop the illegals from coming. We have high unemployment and a considerable amount of jobs going to illegals. Are you going to exert an effort to stop the abuse of U.S. citizens by illegals?" [Fox News, Fox News-Google Presidential Debate, 9/22/11]
Wallace: "More Than 16,000 Children Of Illegals" Paid In-State Tuition In Texas Last Year. From the debate:
WALLACE: Now, last year, more than 16,000 children of illegals, young people in Texas, took advantage of your in-state tuition rate. Speak to that issue. And just, generally, how do you feel being criticized by a number of these other candidates on the stage for being too soft on immigration, sir? [Fox News, Fox News/Google Presidential Debate, 9/22/11]
Term "Illegal" Dominates Word Cloud Of Public's Immigration Questions
Baier: Word Cloud "Shows The Words That Were Used Most Often In All Of The Questions You Asked About Immigration." From the debate:
BRET BAIER (co-moderator): After the break, we will be tackling foreign policy, government spending. Shannon [Bream] will have more on that, too. And also the issue of immigration.
Now, here for a preview of what's to come, let's take a look at what's called a word cloud. It shows the words that were used most often in all of the questions you asked about immigration. The bigger the word, the more often it was used.
The biggest word in this cloud, as you see, is "illegal." [Fox News, Fox News-Google GOP Debate, 9/22/11]
Word Cloud Dominated By "Illegal." From the debate:
[Fox News, GOP Debate, 9/22/11]
Journalists Have Called On Media To Stop Using Pejorative Term "Illegals"
AP Stylebook Explicitly Instructs Journalists Not To Use "Illegal Or Illegals." In its entry for "illegal immigrant," the Associated Press Stylebook specifically instructs journalists not to shorten the phrase to exclude the word "immigrant." From their official entry of the term "illegal immigrant":
Used to describe someone who has entered the country illegally or who resides in the country illegally. It is the preferred term, not illegal alien or undocumented worker. Do not use the shortened term an illegal or illegals. [AP Stylebook, accessed 9/23/11]
National Association Of Hispanic Journalists Called For News Media To Stop Use Of "Illegals" As A Noun. In a March 2006 press release, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), a "2,300-member organization of reporters, editors and other journalists," stated that it was "particularly troubled with the growing trend of the news media to use the word 'illegals' as a noun, shorthand for 'illegal aliens,' " adding: "Using the word in this way is grammatically incorrect and crosses the line by criminalizing the person, not the action they are purported to have committed":
NAHJ is concerned with the increasing use of pejorative terms to describe the estimated 11 million undocumented people living in the United States. NAHJ is particularly troubled with the growing trend of the news media to use the word "illegals" as a noun, shorthand for "illegal aliens". Using the word in this way is grammatically incorrect and crosses the line by criminalizing the person, not the action they are purported to have committed. NAHJ calls on the media to never use "illegals" in headlines.
Shortening the term in this way also stereotypes undocumented people who are in the United States as having committed a crime. Under current U.S. immigration law, being an undocumented immigrant is not a crime, it is a civil violation. Furthermore, an estimated 40 percent of all undocumented people living in the U.S. are visa overstayers, meaning they did not illegally cross the U.S. border. [National Association Of Hispanic Journalists, 3/06]
For more about the truth on the pejorative term "illegal," click here.
Fox's "Straight News" Shows Have Repeatedly Used Slur
Fox's Henneberg: "Democrats Want A Pathway To Citizenship For Illegals." From the April 19 edition of Special Report with Bret Baier:
MOLLY HENNEBERG (Fox News correspondent): During the first part of his term, the president was not able to get the Democratically controlled Congress to pass immigration legislation. Now, with the GOP in control of the House, he's testing Republican lawmakers, saying in an interview last night, quote, "Are we going to be able to find some Republicans who can partner with me and others to get this done once and for all instead of using it as a political football?"
The 2010 Census shows that Hispanics and Latinos are the largest minority group in the country. Democrats want a pathway to citizenship for illegals and also border security. But Republicans have long held that tightening the border should come first. [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier, 4/19/11]
Fox's Baier: "Law Penaliz[es] Businesses For Hiring Illegals." From the May 26 edition of Special Report:
BAIER: [T]he U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Arizona's law, penalizing businesses for hiring illegals. The vote was 5-3 with one abstention. The justices rejected arguments that the states have no role in immigration matters, which could open the door to other challenges. [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier, 5/26/11]
Fox's On-Screen Graphic: "Border Patrol Apprehended 445K+ Illegals Entering The U.S. In FY10." From the April 19 edition of America Live:
[Fox News, America Live, 4/19/11]
Fox's On-Screen Graphic Announces Court Ruling On "In-State Tuition For Illegals." From the June 7 edition of America's Newsroom:
[Fox News, America's Newsroom, 6/7/11]
Fox's Colby Uses "Illegals" Slur Twice. From Fox News' Happening Now:
JAMIE COLBY (anchor): A major shift in immigration policy. The Obama administration indefinitely delaying deportations of many illegals with clean criminal records, saying it'll let them focus their efforts on deporting the dangerous convicts and illegals who pose more of a security risk, but critics are arguing it amounts to backdoor amnesty. [Fox News, Happening Now, 8/19/11]
Fox's MacCallum Repeatedly Refers To "Illegals" While Discussing Health Care Reform. From the November 6, 2009, edition of America's Newsroom:
MARTHA MacCALLUM (anchor): Now, to Congress' plan to overhaul the nation's health care system. The House is going to vote on their health care legislation, we hear now, sometime probably late tomorrow. And there are a group of Hispanic lawmakers who are not at all happy about what's in this bill. They don't like the specific language in the Senate bill that would bar illegals -- illegals -- from participating in these federal insurance plans, even if they decide to use their own money to buy into the plan. President Obama spoke with one of them yesterday, and joining us now is the national chairwoman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, Alci Maldonado. Good to have you with us ma'am, welcome.
ALCI MALDONADO: Thank you, I'm excited and honored to be with you, thank you.
MacCALLUM: Talk to me a little bit about -- you know, the main issue here is that in the Senate bill and in the President Obama-approved version of all of this, illegals would not be able to buy into this plan, and I think a lot of people understand why that would be. But in the House bill, which is known as H.R. 3962, in the House bill, the thinking is that if you allowed them to buy in, then at least they're covered, and they're not going to emergency rooms and getting covered by taxpayers in many cases anyway. What do you think about that?
MALDONADO: Well, Martha, let me begin by saying that it's very confusing, all of it is very confusing for everybody, and of course illegals. And I hate to call them that. OK. [Fox News, America's Newsroom, 11/06/09]
It makes me wonder how many illegals are actually in the United States.....
Illegal is a word, a word with a definition. The definition being (per Websters): not according to or authorized by the law, unlawful, illicit.
Entering a country without permission and working without a work visa IS ILLEGAL!
The newspeak journalists want to redefine words to suit their own ends and the liberal-socialists want to besmirch those who disagree with their beliefs. The same way as they use the sexual term "teabagger" to besmirch those who have disagree with big government taxes, big government programs, big government regulations, big government wasteful spending, big government debt etc.
Who gave journalists the right to redefine words?
You people are pathetic!
An illegal immigrant is a person who has entered the country without official authorization. Federal immigration law provides means by which certain aliens can become naturalized citizens with full rights of citizenship. Immigration law determines who may enter, how long they may stay and when they must leave.
The main legislation governing immigration is the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, (INA). The act hads been amended numerous times, the most significant of which was the establishment of a new quota system in 1965. For INA purposes, an "alien" is any person who is not a citizen or a national of the United States. There are different categories of aliens: resident and nonresident, immigrant and nonimmigrant, documented and undocumented ("illegal").
So I assume that "journalists" now have the authority to re-write the US Legal Code of definitions?
Nice straw man.
And we all know that liberal-socialists are right about absolutely everything.
So you are admitting that you yourself are an idiot.
But we already knew that, it's obvious.
I get it, katankumori, and I will be referring to you as an illegal from now own. After all, everyone in America, EVERYONE, has broken the law in one way or another. Just because you don't know which law you've broken, just because you haven't been charged, doesn't make you any less illegal.
The teabaggers were the first to call themselves teabaggers. Then somebody told them there was a second, more urban or slang meaning to that word, which made it quite funny in the eyes of most Americans. It still is funny. The teabaggers are an astroturf group started with Kock brothers' money and the help of some Faux Con/Republican front groups. The teabaggers are a teeny tiny racist minority in America, and always will be.
I'm guessing here that you are rightly offended that Chris Wallace used the inappropriate and highly pejorative term 'illegals' rather than 'illegal immigrants' or 'undocumented workers'. You're quite correct that it is wrong for people who call themselves journalists to behave in this way, but then Fox Propaganda isn't really about journalism, is it? And it never really has been.
Ha! Like your opinion matters at all.
Illegal is an adjective, and I have no problem with it being used as such ie. illegal immigrant, illegal campaign contributions, illegal activity.
But it is not a noun (go ahead, check), and so referring to a person as an "illegal" is not only offensive and ignorant, but also gramatically incorrect.
So, I'll repeat you and ask who gave journalists the right to redefine words?
Just what sort of people are ILLEGAL (not according to or authorized by the law, unlawful, illicit, as per websters definition) without the need for any sort of descriptive action anyway?
Long post, but completely no addressing of the actual point.
Stop it.. now!
People who follow the laws in coming here are legal immigrants. People who break the laws in coming here are illegal immigrants.
It's technically correct. Find a better term before you whine about political correctness.
a) Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection;
misrepresentation and concealment of facts
Any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States
at any time or place other than as designated by immigration
officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration
officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United
States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the
willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or
imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or
imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
(b) Improper time or place; civil penalties
Any alien who is apprehended while entering (or attempting to
enter) the United States at a time or place other than as
designated by immigration officers shall be subject to a civil
penalty of -
(1) at least $50 and not more than $250 for each such entry (or
attempted entry); or
(2) twice the amount specified in paragraph (1) in the case of
an alien who has been previously subject to a civil penalty under
this subsection.
Civil penalties under this subsection are in addition to, and not
in lieu of, any criminal or other civil penalties that may be
imposed.
(c) Marriage fraud
Any individual who knowingly enters into a marriage for the
purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws shall be
imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or fined not more than
$250,000, or both.
(d) Immigration-related entrepreneurship fraud
Any individual who knowingly establishes a commercial enterprise
for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws
shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, fined in accordance
with title 18, or both.
Let's stop calling thieves thieves and murders murderers lest we hurt their feelings.
Further, if they come from Mexico, they are coming from a country with a 5.4% unemployment rate, and the number 13 world economy. All of this, and none of the Mexican goods are defense related and there-in, lost to the economy.
You cannot get a job up here. You can get a job down there. People are calling the immigrants and no one knows what they are talking about. Illegal aliens is the correct term and are into our purse to the tune of about $113 billion dollars. Trust me.. it is a kindness at this point.
The people who come here illegally are ILLEGALS they are not undocumented workers that term is ignorant and is the term that the political correctness groups that support open borders want the media to use because it sounds better for their cause.
Our government is infringing more and more on our freedoms in the name of keeping us safe from terrorist and they grope us at the airports of force us through a body scanner that produces radiation and is not safe and now they are going to start groping us at sports stadiums and soon they will be doing the searches before you can enter the local shopping mall. Bush passed the Patriot Act which is not Patriotic and Obama has extended this unconstitutional law that allows the government to spy on us and illegally search our cars and homes among other very bad things but when it comes to doing something that dose not infringe on our freedoms and is not unconstitutional and secure our borders they ignore this and give terrorist a very good opportunity to enter our country and this is because of political correctness and politicians want the Hispanic votes.
So you can call them undocumented workers but I will call them what they are ILLEGALS.
You can use incorrect terminology if you want, but I will call them undocumented immigrants if they're here without working or undocumented workers if they are working.
Because I like to use the correct words when speaking English.
relevant associated crime or violation. In this case the term "illegal alien" should not be broken up into a shortened version and represents laziness on the questioner's part.
So, it follows I admit to being an "illegal parker" and once before, "an illegal speeder" when I violated the traffic laws. Feel free to label me as such...I am not, however, an illegal alien.
Love the "undocumented" concept....really I am a undocumented porn star...I really am...I lack the films and portfolio to back up this claim, but using the word "undocumented" means you can claim whatever you want without underlying rationale...I love it !
Yes they come here illegally so they are illegals.
The term undocumented worker is incorrect terminology because when they cross our borders illegally they are not workers they are illegal criminals and they have no job here so they are not a worker.
It is a crime you are just to stupid to admit it.
Find and post reference to it in the criminal code. Felony, misdemeanor, what?
Careful about calling people stupid, especially when you put a mistake next to the word and especially a few posts below the one in which 16andliberal took you to school.
Stop treating this troll like he wants to honestly discuss this issue. Treat him the way he deserves to be treated.
Besides we can no longer afford them here and I think we need to treat them the same as the Mexican government treats illegal immigrants.
http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/03/mexicos-illegals-laws-tougher-than-arizonas/?page=all
http://www.newsmax.com/JamesWalsh/Illegal-Aliens-IRS-Tax/2011/09/23/id/412134
Do your own research then because the links I provided are reliable.
That is what you liberals always say anyway. If it isn't one of the far left web sites then you claim it isn't credible.
As for the whole idea that people here illegally will vote, gimme a break!
I guess you have never read Obama's science czar John Holdren's book he co-authored called Ecoscience that calls for forced abortions and mass sterilization. But of course you haven't because you worship Obama and every thing he supports. You are a pathetic human being because you twist people's words against them and then completely ignore hard facts that someone chosen by Obama to be part of his administration has a much worse proven beliefs that we should force women to have abortions and put drugs in our drinking water to sterilize us. Here are some other highlights from his book that are very disturbing but give a glimpse to the mindset of Obama and his administration.
• Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not
• The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation's drinking water or in food.
• Single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise.
• People who "contribute to social deterioration" (i.e. undesirables) "can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility" in other words, be compelled to have abortions or be sterilized.
• A transnational "Planetary Regime" should assume control of the global economy and also dictate the most intimate details of Americans lives using an armed international police force.
These are the type of sick phucks we have in the white house that Obama seems to share the same sick thinking of or else he would not have them in his administration.
So rather than twist the words of presidential candidates just because they are Republican maybe you should actually read up on the scum bags that you helped get in the white house so you will realize how sick minded they really are.
And the fact that Obama would choose such an extreme moron to be part of his administration say a lot about Obama himself.
Do you really think that someone with such extreme beliefs should be allowed to serve in any administration? I sure don't.
Typical liberal-socialists who know better than everyone else how things should be done & want to FORCE those beliefs on everyone for the good of the state.
Obama probably met this psycho through his murdering, terrorist bomber friend Bill Ayers.
And yes I have read most but not all of the book.
Have you ever read any of it? My guess Is NO
Do you agree with this idiots beliefs?
You need to prove that he advocates it first, and simply stating it does not mean he advocates it. In a competitive debate, the people who argue one point or another do not necessarily advocate them peronally.
But come on, I saw that coming after this:
FYI: If I ask if society should leave the uninsured sick to die, and someone yells "YEAH!", they are, in fact, saying that the uninsured sick should die.
Even if some moron in the crowd yelled that it dose not mean the candidates or anyone else agree it just means you have a lone idiot like you in the crowd.
Says the troll who doesn't even know how to spell *you're* - the contraction for 'you are.'
Really? So you lied when you posted this?
Seems you have admitted in fact there is at least one person that said the uninsured sick should die. Why do you have to lie?
No true scotsman indeed.
You've been trumped by a teenager in this thread how many times? Three? And I thought wisdom was supposed to come with age...
You wouldn't know logic if it was kicking your @ss.
You know what doesn't make sense to me?
Judging someone based on nothing more than 5 or 6 lines that somebody told me came from a 1000+ page book, lines that aren't even in the book, that doesn't make sense to me.
They aren't his "sick thoughts." Never were before, and aren't now either.
2. When honest people copy and paste something, they try to find out if the stuff they're providing to others is an in-context, honest piece of work. What you copied and pasted isn't.
MMFA has addressed this in the past already but it seems that people are still dredging this up.
What was described in that book can be considered akin to a thought experiment, in other words the listing of possible ideas and opinions that may well violate ethical or principal boundaries.
Discussing the reduction of human population through forced abortions and other inhumane methods is not a crime. In keeping within the discussion at an academic or scientific level it can be considered a discussion as any other, just one with no boundaries set.
In order to accuse Holdren of being a monster you have to be able to prove that those were his opinions and intentions (Holdren has denied this already). Within the book, there is nothing to state that he was actually ADVOCATING these ideas (indeed there was a line within the book itself that stated that such actions would be too implausible or too far over the line of ethics to be even considered).
You read the book the way you wanted to read it and your post is the result.
You call it a thought experiment and I call it a phucked up way of thinking.
Holdren is a moron and anyone that believes the crap you write about him not advocating this line of thinking after him and his pals actually put it down in writing in a published book is as big a moron as him.
You claim it was just a discussion about population reduction but it becomes more than a discussion when it is published in a book and that just proves you are just as phucked up in the head as him.
I think we should abort Holdren and any like minded friends of his. That would be a good start to reducing the population.
And you're saying that if someone writes about something, it means that they advocate it, regardless of context? So everyone who has ever written aa history book that mentions slavery or the Holocaust are advocating those things?
I know you might not be too familiar with textbooks, but surely you know better. A textbook that says "Some people have proposed these methods for population control" is as supportive of those methods as textbooks that say "Ptolemiac theory proposes that the earth is the center of the universe" or "Political dissidents could be executed by authoritarian leaders" are of those ideas.
Also, you can't "abort" a living adult. That would be murder. And since you have written about murdering Holdren and his friends, by your logic, you are supportive of it. You're supportive of it by any logic actually, since you literally said "I think we should"....
So you don't understand what books are either? That's really quite sad.
I don't believe you've read it either. What's the first complete sentence on page 300?
If we get enough Faux Cons/Republicans in Congress, however, they may get together and decide to declare the 'War on Illegals' (and here I'm just using the mistaken terminology that they are so comfortable with). I reckon it should work out about as well as the Republican War on Drugs, or War on Poverty, or War on Homelessness, but probably a lot better than the whole War in Iraq thing.
I remember we once called them illegal aliens, but the residents of Area 51's VIP penthouse suite took offense, and we had to choose a different nomenclature.
The conservative journalists associate the word immigrant with the millions of hopeful tired, poor, and huddled masses who came to Ellis Island and sought citizenship the proper way.
So, I guess illegals really is the best word to describe them. It's not a slur...it's a freakin' adjective.
Sounds like you have some "issues".
What do you think of Barry's hat in this picture?
http://apramamedia.com/2011/08/conservative-pundit-david-limbaugh-tweets-racist-obama-perry-pic/
Learn 2 Read.
This is from the person who seems to be incapable of going on daily without writing some knee jerk Obama post.
No that's not what he said.