Lou Dobbs on Democracy Now
Wag of the Finger
Lou Dobbs
"Illegal Immigration"
December 4, 2007
The frame of "illegal immigration" was not only affirmed repeatedly by Lou Dobbs during his interview on Democracy Now, but it was also reaffirmed by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez throughout the program. Instead of reframing the debate in terms of progressive values, Amy and Juan unconsciously used the conservative frame of "illegal immigration" and thereby gave the upper hand to Lou Dobbs. No matter what facts Amy and Juan tried to bring up, they seemed to be always on the defense because of this.
PS: I wrote to the staff of Democracy and reminded them of framing. I think it would be a great idea if everyone reminded our fellow progressives of this whenever opportunity arises. I see way too many progressives unconsciously reaffirming conservative frames.
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New! Immigration facts mattered little to Dobbs
I listened to the Dobbs interview, too. I am a huge fan of DemocracyNow! and Amy Goodman, but I did not think it was their finest hour. Why? Because I think they were trying to argue frames with facts a bit too strongly and Dobbs would have none of it. He already had his frame--illegal immigrants are harming America--and no fact would shake it.
I remember one part where Goodman confronted Dobbs about his inaccurate statements about both the level of tuberculosis and leprosy in the U.S. and his conclusion that it is due to illegal immigrants. Even though he grudgingly admitted that his numbers were wrong, he still clung to his conclusion that, whatever the numbers, these disease levels must have been caused by illegal immigrants because they are not screened for these diseases as they enter the U.S. He was so fixed into the bad immigrant frame, that any other solution was unthinkable.
Of course, there is a perfectly likely other explanation, at least for tuberculosis--increases in international air travel. The millions of passengers that come to the U.S.--both foreigners visiting here and native-born Americans returning home--who have been exposed to diseases in other countries. These passengers are not screened at the airport either. They could be spreading these diseases too.
I don't know what the cause or causes of our current levels of tuberculosis and leprosy are. But presuming it is "illegal immigrants" alone like Dobbs, has more to do with frames than facts.
As you rightly point out, thinking in this way might have helped Amy Goodman do a better job in her interview.
That said, I still commend her for standing strong and confronting Dobbs, something few others will do.
Thanks for your wag of the finger.
Eric Haas
Rockridge Institute