Anna writes:

I LOVE Lou Dobbs....his stand on ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION is right on.  Those opposing his view of ILLEGAL immigration usually have their own ideology - that is that ANYONE who has a problem should show up in America to have their problem solved by tax-paying Americans.  How nice for native-born Americans in the midst of a recession....seeing their jobs going overseas, struggling with health-care costs.....having the burden of providing social services, medical care through the emergency rooms of hospital (making our healthcare go up even more), providing interpreters...for millions of people here ILLEGALLY....not to even speak of the high cost of educating the children of these millions.  I strongly suggest those who support the "rights" of these illegals - adopt a couple of families.....have them move in with you, share your household, your food, pay for their healthcare, pay for the education of their childred....OUT OF YOUR FAMILY BUDGET!!!  We'll see how long your hold on to your "head above the clouds" view........you would then have a right to bash those like Lou Dobbs.....once you, yourself, have the financial burden of caring for these uninvited guests. 
 
Get real.....remember we are talking ILLEGAL!!!

OK. We realize that it is an utter waste of time to dispute Anna's "arguments", but we will analyze them, nevertheless.

Anna's main argument appears to be that "Those opposing his view of ILLEGAL immigration usually have their own ideology - that is that ANYONE who has a problem should show up in America to have their problem solved by tax-paying Americans." We will ignore her misuse of the term "ideology" in order to focus on the topic at hand--immigrants and immigration. Had Anna bothered to read our previous lesson on the straw man argument, she may have decided against sending her angry, spastically unfocused email our way. I challenge anyone to show us where we have argued that "anyone who has a problem should show up in America to have their problem solved by tax-paying Americans." Since we have not argued that point, that argument against us is simply sensationalist (not unlike Lou himself), absurd, and invalid.

And then, of course, we have the standard "He's only against illegal immigration" line. Good god. Please, people. I will say this one more time. We do not, have not, and will not question whether or not those who come here without proper documentation are committing crimes. We are questioning the validity of the current laws themselves. The fact that something is a law is not, in itself, any indication that that law is fair or just. For those who have difficulty with subtlety, I will use this easy to understand example again. Segregation was once law. Segregation was not fair or just. Laws can potentially be unfair or unjust. Follow me?

We are encouraging people to think about how fair it is that individuals find themselves in a global economic system that compels them to sell their labor on a transnational market in order to survive, but then punishes them for actually becoming transnational laborers. Also, because undocumented workers in this country are afforded the protection of very few rights and are therefore vulnerable, we are saying that it is very poor form to constantly blame the social antagonisms produced by that global economic system on the individuals who find themselves caught up in it. One could say that a guy who makes his money and fame on berating people with little resources or rights, those who are economically compelled to sell their labor in the United States for survival, is kind of an asshole. So, that's what we are saying.

Again:  Social problems are not the result of poor people from other countries immigrating to richer nations. Social antagonisms are the result of systemic problems in the fields of politics and the economy. Yes, it is much easier to just blame the scapegoat of your choosing for all the problems in society, be that liberals, conservatives, immigrants, muslims, jews, whatever... But it is also intellectually lazy, and only serves to buttress the current injustices in the systems that have actually produced these problems. People who foster this sort of intellectual laziness are pendejos.