“attrition through enforcement"-catchphrase of the the right-wing Federation for American Immigratio

[pampango]

Reform.

http://alibi.com/index.php?story=32226&scn=feature

"At the top of SB 1070, lawmakers included this language: “The legislature declares that the intent of this act is to make attrition through enforcement the public policy of all state and local government agencies in Arizona.” Those three words, “attrition through enforcement,” make up a catchphrase of the the right-wing Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Lemons points out. It essentially means, "make life so uncomfortable to immigrant population here that they'll leave."

"The Phoenix New Times has investigated the treatment of immigrants and Hispanics in Arizona for many years. Reporter Stephen Lemons has written about these issues for three or four. He is holding out hope that a federal judge will step in and issue a preliminary injunction that could pause the law for the time being. "That would be terrific in a lot of ways," he says. "First, it would give us a cooling down period. Tensions are high now and people are pissed off. Secondly, it would alleviate some of the pressure for a boycott." Phoenix is already estimating a boycott could cost $90 million, he says, and that's just one city in the state."

"Are things as bad as they seem in Lemons' state? "Yes," he says. "There is a tremendous amount of hatred and ethnic tension." He's originally from North Carolina and also spent time living in Los Angeles before taking a job with the New Times seven years ago. "I would say Arizona is the most racist state I've ever lived in personally. I thought the South was bad when I left it." In the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement, North Carolina's tension was black/white, he says. "Here it's all brown/white. People are fed a steady diet of resentment toward what's popularly called 'illegals.' That term tends to be kind of a catchall for all Hispanics,” he adds. “You can't go wrong being a Republican politician and beating the anti-immigrant drum.”

"The intense Republican anti-immigrant rhetoric wasn't always so loud in Arizona, Lemons says. Immigration used to be a wedge issue for the party, as many of its members run businesses that rely on undocumented workers. "Republicans were not as nativist as they are now in the state," he says. But Lemons says there was an "ethnic McCarthyism" creeping into Arizona's Republican Party."

[political_Dem]

1. Just so that the apologists for the word, "illegal" don't miss what reporter Stephen Lemons said:

People are fed a steady diet of resentment toward what's popularly called 'illegals.' That term tends to be kind of a catchall for all Hispanics...You can't go wrong being a Republican politician and beating the anti-immigrant drum."

The word's meaning is not just used to describe criminality. Lemons describes the true essence of why the "euphenism" "illegal(s)" is used repeatedly on the air, in political stump speeches and as a derogatory phrase toward a specific group of people.

Above all else, this article is a must read--especially when trying to learn what the mind-set is behind the anti-immigrant, Teabagging crowd.