Journalists as Anti-Immigrant Activists

Television (Go to Talk Radio)
First and foremost among media figures prominent in the immigration debate is CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, host of Lou Dobbs Tonight. Over the last several years, Dobbs has turned what was once a show devoted to covering business in America into a nightly harangue against immigrants and immigration. Unlike many other figures in the media, Dobbs makes no pretense to objectivity; he considers himself an "advocacy journalist." Dobbs, however, has gone way beyond advocacy by his frequent use of many of the code words identified in this report:

He has stated that he believes that "illegal aliens are criminals." (Lou Dobbs Tonight transcript, 4/6/05). Illegal immigrants are not considered criminals under current U.S. law.
He has used the term "anchor babies" to refer to the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants, suggesting inaccurately that having a U.S. citizen child is a means of acquiring legal immigration status or being protected from deportation. (Lou Dobbs Tonight transcript, 3/31/05).
He refers frequently to illegal aliens from Mexico into the United States as the "invasion" and as an "army of invaders" (Lou Dobbs Tonight transcript, 3/31/06). One of his reporters referred to a visit from Mexico's then-President Vicente Fox as a "Mexican military incursion."
Dobbs linked illegal aliens to a host of diseases including tuberculosis, malaria, and leprosy. In 2005, a reporter on the show claimed that there had been 7,000 new cases of leprosy in the previous three years, a claim disputed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Lou Dobbs Tonight transcript, 4/14/05). To date, and despite protests to the contrary, Dobbs has never acknowledged the error on his show.
Lou Dobbs Tonight has featured several stories on the "reconquest" of the American Southwest. In one 2005 segment, a map purportedly showing "Aztlan" was provided to the show by the Council of Conservative Citizens, a prominent White supremacist organization (Lou Dobbs Tonight transcript, 5/23/06).

Although Dobbs has schooled himself to be very careful about how he refers to issues of race and ethnicity in the immigration debate, his zeal to bash immigrants and immigration at every opportunity has led him to provide a platform to many of the hate groups mentioned in this report. The spokespeople tied to hate groups and vigilantes discussed in this website have appeared on Dobbs' show 23 times since 2005:

Dobbs has also been a cheerleader for the Minuteman Project. He devoted extensive coverage to the Minuteman's first action in 2005, calling the the group a "remarkable success." Both Jim Gilchrist and Chris Simcox were frequent guests on the show, and on one occasion Dobbs wished Gilchrist "all the success in the world."
In 2005, Lou Dobbs Tonight featured the late Dr. Madeline Cosman as a "medical expert" in a discussion of the diseases that illegal aliens are bringing into the country. Ms. Cosman was not a medical doctor, but a prominent anti-immigrant activist who stated that Mexican immigrants were prone to molesting children (Lou Dobbs Tonight transcript, 6/8/05).
As noted before, one of the most well-known White supremacist groups in the country, the Council of Conservative Citizens, was featured as a "source" in a 2006 segment on the show.

Dobbs is hardly alone in his characterizations. In 2006, Dobbs' CNN colleague Jack Cafferty asserted that all participants in the immigration marches were "illegal aliens," stating, "Once again, the streets of our country were taken over today by people who don't belong here ... mobs of illegal aliens.... At some point this could all turn very violent as Americans become fed up with the failure of their government to address the most pressing domestic issue of our time."

In November 2007, MSNBC political commentator Pat Buchanan ranted, "You've got a wholesale invasion, the greatest invasion in human history coming across your southern border, changing the composition and character of your country," and, "I think America may exist, but I'll tell you this: I do believe we're going to lose the American Southwest. I think it is almost inevitable."

In July 2007, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly noted that most Americans "don't want [Mexicans] clustering in their neighborhoods and changing the whole tempo of the neighborhood." And in May 2006 he said, "According to the lefty zealots, the white Christians who hold power must be swept out by a new multicultural tide, a rainbow coalition, if you will."

Talk Radio (Go to Television)
Syndicated and local talk radio shows play a special role in the immigration debate as outlets for hate and extremism. Some examples:

Nationally syndicated radio talk show host Neal Boortz suggested to his listeners that "When we defeat this illegal alien amnesty bill, and when we yank out the welcome mat...as a going-away gift let's all give them a box of nuclear waste. Give 'em a little nuclear waste and let 'em take it on down there to Mexico."
Phoenix talk radio host Brian James encouraged his listeners to "randomly pick one night every week where we kill whoever crosses the border. Step over there and die." This prompted Arizona's attorney general to file a complaint with the FCC.
On his nationally syndicated radio show, Glenn Beck, who also has a show on CNN Headline News, joked about a refinery that produces "Mexinol," a fuel made from the bodies of illegal immigrants coming from Mexico. His website featured the ad for "Mexinol" as "the picture of the day" and noted that it was a "brilliant creation."

While the broader implications of the emergence of media celebrities acting as activists for specific causes and the growth of talk radio are beyond the scope of this report, one thing is clear - both phenomena have contributed significantly to the increased, perhaps unprecedented, use of hate speech and code words on the airwaves, specifically with respect to the issue of immigration and the presence of Hispanics in the U.S.