Ms. Munoz, the White House, and Straw Men Arguments

By David North on August 19, 2011

Today’s New York Times article on the case-by-case amnesty program of this administration displayed -- without comment -- a remarkable bit of “straw man” argumentation from White House official Cecilia Munoz, someone I met decades ago at the Council of La Raza.

Ms. Munoz was quoted, in defense of the selective removal program, saying that the new system would “suspend deportation in low priority cases that, for example, involve ‘military veterans and the spouses of active-duty military personnel’.”

Think about that for a moment. Think about the size of these two, allegedly endangered populations.

A military veteran in illegal status would have joined one of the services, spent time, probably years, in the ranks, and would have been exposed to all the legalization options for such persons during that time, and then be discharged. Then, at some time after the discharge he would have been put into the deportation process.

If he had been involved in a crime that would take him into the hands of the immigration authorities, he would not be eligible for the new program, anyway.

So, how often does ICE face the possibility of deporting a military veteran with a clean criminal record? I suspect not very often.

Perhaps the other set of illegal aliens of concern, “spouses of active-duty military personnel” who, despite the legalization programs for their spouses, were pushed into deportation proceedings, is a bit larger, but I doubt it.

Can you see the ICE agent telling the alien, whose husband is in Afghanistan, “sorry, lady, you got to leave the country”?

Again, if she had a criminal record -- one that ICE regarded as a criminal record -- she would not be eligible for the new program.

The truth, of course, is that the new program will grant amnesty to huge numbers of illegal aliens who are not now, never have been, and never will be involved with the American military. That a handful of military-related people might, just might benefit is simply a smokescreen.