An article on immigration in USA Today caught our eye yesterday due to its excessive sourcing of anti-immigrant groups. Specifically, it quoted FAIR and Center for Immigration Studies - both organizations were founded by John Tanton who has ties to white nationalism and racial eugenics. Apparently, the reporter also caught the ire of the very student organizers who tried to assist her in putting the story together. Dreamactivist blasted reporter Emily Bazar in a blog article on The Sanctuary. Here is an excerpt…
Would a truly reputable national newspaper use the N-word to describe African-Americans?
I doubt it.
The USA Today article “Groups try to delay deportations of illegal students” gets it wrong once again by calling immigrant students in the United States “illegal.”
BEWARE: USA Today reporter, Emily Bazar thinks it is alright to label young immigrants without papers as “illegal immigrants” because NumbersUSA and NCLR had a webcast where this was decided. Here is the email to prove this.
But wait, I get the “illegal immigrant” because that slur is familiar. However, WHAT is an “illegal student?”
Emily Bazar ([email protected]), specifically, has also forced undocumented students to reveal their true identity to make a point in her article. For this particular article, Ms. Bazar spoke to our Communications Director and when he told her that she could not use his last name, Bazar retaliated by saying that USA Today had “national standards” and policies to be adhered to. That is amusing, given how even New York Times has been hesitant about revealing the identity of undocumented students. I wonder if these standards come straight from the hate-organization Numbers USA, funded by the known racist John Tanton or FAIR, who is quoted in the article saying the same things that have been debunked here.
Take action here to tell USA Today to stop competing with the archaic immigration system and drop the use of the word ‘illegal’ DreamActivist :: Avoid Emily Bazar from USA Today: What the Heck is an “Illegal Student?”
Later, since I am out and proud, I reluctantly spent time giving Ms. Bazar details about deportation cases that she uses in her article to make a point. I have spoken to dozens of immigration reporters and it doesn’t get more incompetent than what I experienced on the call.But more specifically, I am not even talking about Ms. Bazar’s lack of journalistic ethics or the term “illegal immigrant” but “illegal students.” What is “illegal” exactly about being a student in this case? Is a drunk 19 year old college student an “illegal student” as well? Is it supposed to describe anyone who has ever done something illegal and also gone to school?
To read the entire article, please visit www.promigrant.org.