Fighting Illegal Immigration: A New McCarthyism or Genuine Patriotism?

Joe McCarthy thought of himself as the most patriotic of patriots, defending the U.S. from "the Red Menace," as Communists were often called in those days. I remember my father, whom I still think of as having pretty balanced views for the time, having a book of J.Edgar Hoover's on the shelf when I was growing up that was called Masters of Deceit, which was about fighting the Communists. Both McCarthy and Hoover went too far, and took advantage of the legitimate fears Americans had of the hostile intentions of the Soviet government. But they both thought of themselves as patriots, and we could legitimately ask whether they were patriots, or "bullies." That same question is raised today in the Washington Post's article about a blogger named Greg Letiecq, who is now considered one of the most successful conservative bloggers in the country. He is apparently most well-known for his attacks on illegal immigrants, and those who either defend illegal immigrants or look the other way. Letiecq has become a political force to be reckoned with in Northern Virginia.

The Post's Nick Miroff writes that "His movement has tapped into a wellspring of simmering anger over illegal immigration and a general unease about the large influx of Hispanic residents who have moved to the region in the past decade, sparking suburban clashes over such quality-of-life issues as overcrowding, language, even lawn care."

Letiecq says, "We're inspiring people. A lot of citizens felt like there was nothing they could do."

On the other hand, the group Mexicans Without Borders portrays Letiecq as a villain, saying that Letiecq, as the "leader of the racist, recalcitrant anti-immigrant group 'Help to Save Manassas,' savors the hate, satisfied at having delivered a racist law for his group." The reference is to anti-illegal immigrant legislation recently passed in Northern Virginia.

The article suggests, too, that anyone who gets in his way had better watch out. Letiecq himself says, "I don't like clean, sanitized don't-upset-anybody kinds of discussions. We shouldn't pull our punches."

But this has led to some personal attacks against local politicians who don't see eye-to-eye with him. Letiecq "outed" Democratic candidate Jeff Dion for posting on a gay website, leading to Dion's withdrawal from his campaign. Letiecq simply says, "I'm anti-sin."

But here's where it gets really interesting. He's not simply attacking illegal immigrants, and what he sees as "sinful" homosexual candidates. Letiecq has relentlessly attacked a Republican candidate for the Virginia Assembly, Faisal Gill, a former naval officer and employee of Homeland Security, for being a terrorist. It seems that Letiecq calls it how he sees it, regardless of whether he has proof. Gill was associated once with a group whose leader was convicted of having illegal ties to the Libyan government. Gill was cleared of wrong-doing by Homeland Security, but that wasn't good enough for Letiecq. And that's what raises my question about the line between patriotism and McCarthyism. (See the article for more examples of Letiecq's "shoot from the hip" style.)

Gill says that Letiecq is "like a schoolyard bully. He clearly plays to the prejudices people have."

To me, it's only natural that this is what you're going to get when the Federal Government will not enforce its own immigration policies, and does little to secure its borders. People will take matters into their own hands, and this kind of thing plays very well with the most racist and bigoted amongst us. It reminds me of old southern vigilantism, though Letiecq is admittedly just stirring the pot with his blog.

I'm convinced that the Federal Government does nothing because the powers-that-be, namely the wealthiest amongst us, want cheap labor in this country. So, on the one hand, I applaud Letiecq's efforts, because something needs to be done to rally people against Big Business's oppression of the American laborer. On the other hand, the McCarthyesque technique of smearing his political enemies with innuendo is as immoral and questionable as Big Business's desire to see the lowest possible wages worldwide.

Meantime, the Post published an editorial this morning condemning what it calls "Nativism's Toxic Cloud" in Northern Virginia. The Post questions whether anything can be done about illegal immigration. It says: "The truth is, ICE simply does not have the time, personnel or capacity to do what local politicians want: return vast numbers of illegal immigrants to their country of origin.... An educated guess is that more undocumented immigrants -- possibly a lot more -- will arrive each month than can realistically be removed." And the editorial attacks "nativism" as being the same sort of thing that Irish and Italian immigrants faced in the past.

But it's not.

The supposedly "nativist" fight is against illegal immigration, and not against immigration per se.

I have to admit, however, that this Post editorial got me to thinking. Is it true that there really is nothing we can do about illegal immigration? If that's the case, then the Germans, British, and French may not be able to do anything about it either, right? And so, I can just move over there and take advantage of what I'm seeing as a more civilized group of nations at this point... right? Well, no. They wouldn't let me stay over there. The Post says that we can't stop the "market forces" at play. But I distinctly get the impression other countries can. It depends on whether they want to or not. It's the same with universal health care. The Canadians, British, Germans, French, and others can give their citizens health care. But in the United States, a country that is currently spending billions on a futile and senseless war in the Middle East, we always hear that it's too expensive, and we can't afford it. Poppycock! We can if we want to. And our political leadership, under the influence of Big Money's dollars, doesn't want to. We have to make them want to. And the only way we can do that is to threaten to vote them out if they don't listen.

Granted, if all the candidates are bought and paid for by the Almighty Dollar, then there really is nothing we can do. But I'm not persuaded, yet, that we're powerless. We have to believe we can, and speak openly and often about our intention to vote for candidates who will protect the American worker, both with health care and with a sensible immigration policy that is enforced.