Bordering on Racism

For years, xenophobic immigrant bashers have used national security as an excuse to go after the Mexican border and Latino immigrants who cross it without proper documents.

They kept telling us that after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, we have to build fences to shut down a border that has no history of terrorist traffic. Illegal immigrants are a threat to national security, we were told, because some of the Sept. 11 terrorists were here illegally. Of course, they neglected to tell us that none came through Mexico and that they had come here legally, by airplane, and stayed after their visas expired.

You would think that this would rally them to go after the other millions of illegal immigrants who came here legally and overstayed. After all, visa violators represent almost half the illegal immigrant population.

But nah, their paranoia was misdirected toward the Mexican border because, in fact, they feel more threatened by the growth of the Latino population than by terrorists.

It's all about preventing Latinos from "taking over." You have to be very insecure to think that way, but unfortunately, many Americans do. And the number of people who think that way is growing, thanks to the fearmongering tactics of conservative extremists in the media, in Congress and even among some Republican presidential candidates.

They tell you their only problem is with illegal immigration, but then, they show you they also are threatened by the Spanish language and Hispanic culture, which are the language and culture of millions of legal U.S. residents and citizens.

You don't hear them complaining about people who overstay or about those who come into the country by crossing illegally through the Canadian border. You don't hear them calling for fences along the Canadian border, although there is ample evidence that terrorists have tried to enter this country through our northern boundary. Why? Because most of those illegal immigrants are not Latinos.

The media share some responsibility for the many distortions in the national debate about illegal immigration. From the lazy way we cover this issue, anyone could think all illegal immigrants — including terrorists — are coming from Mexico. It's a lot easier for the media to illustrate the illegal immigration problem by showing the same tired images of people crossing the Mexican border than it is for them to track down and interview people who have overstayed their visas.

But still, you don't hear many reporters explaining that we have nearly 12,000 Border Patrol agents along the 1,951-mile Mexican border and fewer than 1,000 agents along more than 5,500 miles of border with Canada.

Perhaps that's why the outcry is only for more agents on the southern front.

The excuse used by the media, the fearmongers and the government is that there is a lot more traffic along the southern border, ignoring the fact that there is a lot more danger along the northern front.

And then the bigots tell us it's not about racism. It's all about national security, they say, demonstrating their unabashed gall and disrespect for human intelligence.

You would think they would have been throwing tantrums when a recent government report exposed an incredible lack of security on the Canadian border and a dramatic disparity between security at our southern and northern crossings.

The report, from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, noted, "The possibility that terrorists and criminals might exploit border vulnerabilities and enter the United States poses a serious security risk, especially if they were to bring radioactive material or other contraband with them." And then it goes on to explain that investigators were able to smuggle duffel bags carrying simulated radioactive materials through three unmanned spots from Canada to the U.S., including official ports of entry that were manned only during daylight hours.

"Our work clearly shows substantial vulnerabilities in the northern border to terrorists or criminals entering the United States undetected," the GAO's Greg Kutz testified last month at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on this issue. He said there are areas along the Mexican border that still appear to be vulnerable, "although the southern border appears to be substantially more secure."

Had this happened at the Mexican border, the anti-Latino bigots would have had a field day. But because this threat comes from Canada and because it's about the potential of real terrorism, they didn't make a big fuss.

After all, to them, real terrorists are not as dangerous as the decent and hardworking people who come here to pursue the American dream by washing our cars and our dishes, mowing our lawns, and caring for our elderly and our children.

Their priorities are as straight as their warped, xenophobic mentality. They can't tell the obvious difference between terrorists who come here to kill Americans and immigrants who come here to become Americans.

They say they are tired of being called racists, and yet Latinos are also tired of being the victims of racism.

To find out more about Miguel Perez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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