In recent months, a new euphemism for "illegal alien" has begun to emerge. It complements such old favorites as "undocumented worker" and Karl Rovian novelties like "migrant."
Although one should never underestimate the imagination of those trying to condone or encourage lawbreakers, I must congratulate them on this linguistic breakthrough. They will be hard-pressed to top the Orwellian perfection of their newest term for foreign nationals who are illegally in the U.S:
"CITIZENS...!!!"
Please note that these three examples come not from ethnic activists, but from U.S. government officials.
You may recall the quote from Tony Lew, the INS spokesman for the LA district:
"Our priorities are to go after illegal immigrants committing crime. If they are law-abiding citizens, we don't have the resources to go looking for them."
The euphemism is also showing up in the mouths of the nation's highest elected officials.
"Last week, Mr. Bush spoke out in favor of the immigrants, 'Remember, we've got hardworking citizens who are willing to walk 400 miles of desert in blistering heat to find work," he said.
As always with immigration pandering, the Democrats have been quick to match and raise the President's gambit:
"Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt said Saturday that they would forge ahead with immigration reform early next year, including some kind of legal residency for Mexican migrants already living in the United States. … Gephardt said …that those who would benefit are 'people who have been in the United States for a long time, paid taxes, obeyed the laws and been very good citizens.'"
Oh dear. This is exactly the kind of thing that makes Peter Brimelow write, in his insensitive way, that what the American governing class is involved in here amounts to a species of treason.
[Steve Sailer [email him] is founder of the Human Biodiversity Institute and movie critic for The American Conservative. His website www.iSteve.blogspot.com features his daily blog.]
January 14, 2002
