DISQUS

Sindawe · 2 years ago

CFIR can get stuffed. Call these people what they are, CRIMINAL (as in having broken this nations immigration laws) ALIENS (as in NOT born within our borders).

KMGH 7 News · 2 years ago

KMGH 7 News What the heck are they if they aren't Illegal immigrants?  They are not undocumented people! They are law breakers. They are illegal aliens!  They need to get past the idea that anyone thinks of them as anything except illegal alien immigrants!  They have no business in this country illegally!  Like it or not.  Why do they think Americans should refer to them otherwise?  Immigrants are people that are usually in a country legally.  That is where you call them immigrants.  There is a differences.  They need to get over it.  Who are they to tell a news station how to run their business?  If I were the news station I would tell them as soon as they have the four men come into the station and verify that they are legally here they would get a retraction and not one moment sooner.

dukeco1 · 2 years ago

This is stupid If you are not a citizen of the United States and you came to live here using one of the long established procedures for doing so, you are an immigrant. If you came here to live and did not follow the legally prescribed method of doing so, you are an illegal immigrant. End of rhetorical discussion..

The question is not what to call these people. The question is what to do about it. I am a liberal Democrat with a long history of working for social justice. I do not believe that anyone should be mistreated, period. However, it is a mistreatment of, and a disservice to, all LEGAL immigrants to allow this flood of humans who are not legally here to continue.

I have no quarrel with any person who wants to improve their lives and to take care of their families. I know, from my own personal experience, the effect on a community that is overtaken by an uncontrolled influx of workers that will take any job at any price. My construction business is hard pressed to compete with companies who routinely hire illegal workers. I do not hire them and my labor and administrative costs are much higher by comparison.

When we start prosecuting and imprisoning employers who knowingly hire illegal workers, we will see the trend reverse. I fully believe that any person who wants to live here and work here should have the opportunity to do so, if they are willing to do so legally. Otherwise, I cannot support their presence in this country.

OK. I'm ready to be castigated by CFIR and others, but that's how I see it.

jerseycorn · 2 years ago

You are all missing the point Read the follwing sentence carefully:

"In fact, the report presented only anecdotal evidence of four Hispanic men who pleaded guilty to driving without a valid driver's license and without adequate auto insurance, and presented no factual evidence that any of those offenders actually were illegal immigrants."

That is the point -- Channel 7 claimed that these unidentified men were illegal immigrants WITHOUT ANY EVIDENCE.  Yes, it's true -- there are Hispanic men and women in this country who ARE NOT here illegally.

dukeco1 · 2 years ago

let me try again Certainly, Channel 7 erred in their reference to the four gentlemen in question. The point, however, is CFIR requesting that the station stop using the term " illegal immigrant ". That request is out of line. Channel 7 may have been wrong to use the term in this particular case, but the term is perfectly legitimate.

bmenezes · 2 years ago

KMGH 7News and its inability to do basic, credible journalism If you were the news station, as you say, you would be producing "news" that would embarrass most journalism students, let alone professional journalists.

This whole issue arises because of the original KMGH report by Tony Kovaleski that provided a sensationalist story, purporting to show that unlicensed/uninsured illegal immigrant drivers were "mocking the legal system." That story provided zero factual substantiation for its premise, resulting in a piece that not only did not prove what it purported to, but also disparaged Hispanics in general. KMGH did not even try to determine how many non-Hispanics were in the same situation as unlicensed/uninsured drivers. And it did not provide any proof that the four men it featured on camera were illegal immigrants.

Clearly the station has seriously compromised its credibility in covering issues related to immigration reform; look no further than the other excellent post Erin has put up on this site. That is reason enough for KMGH to change how it deals with this issue, whether it's in how the station describes immigrants or how it puts together "investigations," so in the future it may avoid airing factually baseless pieces smearing a particular ethnic group.

february · 2 years ago

Mr Ok, so some people are saying that immigrants are welcomed to this country as long as they come here "legally". Do this people have any idea what it takes to actually do that? Do they know how long it takes and how much it costs? Do they imagine that someone who has no money to buy food with or to pay rent will have the necessary resources to immigrate the "legal" way. These people don't want to be here "illegally", but their situation permits no other way of doing it. Looking for something to eat and a place to call home is not a crime and its not illegal. Oh by the way, did Native Americans ask settlers for documents??