Immigration and communication
Ashley Imsand on Forward picks at some questions regarding immigration and communication. I posted a reply, which turned out longer than I thought. I don’t want all that typing to go unused here and it fits right in with my newly positioned content; so here follows my reply:
I am an immigrant and I support a more humane immigration policy. That means I will go into the communication details of that particular side of the debate; it also means that I am, of course, biased.
In terms of communication, I think we need to be careful what terms to apply. The broad “illegal immigrants” is in not an official legal term and even contradictory. “Illegal alien” is the official term. This nitpicking does matter in my opinion, as connotations made with “illegal immigrants” suggest a negative image for all immigrants. Already, there is little distinction in “illegal immigrants” and “immigrants” in news coverage.
One of the best soundbites I’ve heard about the immigration debate came from an immigrant marching in last week’s 48-mile walk in Chicago. He said that he would love to know of an employer that is willing to wait for 10 years before he could come and work, because that is how long it would take through the legal process.
I believe the message needs to focus on humanity, compassion and social justice. In my opinion, it is futile to debate about who took land from who; what language needs to be spoken; what the economic impact of immigrants is (do they bring more money in than they cost?). We definitely need to get away from the “us vs. them.” We need to get away from terms such as anti-American. On the other hand, we need to get away from arguments such as “the U.S. stole that land from Mexico in the first place” or “we were all immigrants in the beginning.” That’s history; it’s not relevant at present; now it’s about humanity, compassion and social justice. We should communicate that people who come to this country all have that same American dream and often do not have another choice; we all want the better life for ourselves and our family.
People of the opposite believe view immigrants as a threat to several ideas: national security, national identity, and economy. We should not counter these views with facts or angry attacks; we should tell a different story. Tell the story of that same American dream that all immigrants share; working hard, family, and contributions to society.
Both sides want reform and both sides have mass amounts of facts to share. It is not the facts that will win the debate; it is the story that is being told. The side that tells the best story, a story I believe should be about humanity and compassion, will get the support.
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