So, Now We Bring Ebola Into the Country?!?

By Dr. Henry Flores, NewsTaco

When it comes to the anti-immigrant rantings and ravings of American nativists I thought I had heard everything.  But, now comes the 2014 mid-term elections and anti-immigrant rantings have taken a new twist thanks to the Ebola epidemic ravaging some west African countries.  Now we have some Republican senatorial candidates in North Carolina and New Hampshire crying that we need to increase border security because immigrants are bringing Ebola into the United States!

Where Have We Heard This Before? 

Ever since the United States organized the Immigration and Naturalization Service (la migra) and systematized the inflow and outflow of immigrants there have been those among the general population shouting that we needed to control immigrants because they werenthe “unwashed masses.”  A logical conclusion was that many immigrants coming into the United States from Europe, at the turn of the Twentieth Century, carried various types of communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, whooping cough and so forth.  So, many who passed through Ellis Island were either quarantined or deported in an attempt at preventing the immigrants from infecting the rest of our clean and pristine population.

More recently, I’ve heard Texas legislators decry “dirty and diseased” immigrants trying to sneak into this fair state just to cast fraudulent votes.  I guess there is a world-wide conspiracy by all immigrants trying to break into our country to come in here just to cast a vote in an election they don’t know anything about or understand.  Or, maybe casting fraudulent votes is one way of sabotaging our democracy and undermining the integrity of our electoral system.  I better be careful what I say, some conspiracy theorist might try and turn this into another rumor.

The Latest Disease Threats 

The latest edition of fear mongering that is going about the election cycle are the rantings (I love this word because it connotes the complete insanity surrounding this situation) of at least two politicians running for the United States Senate in North Carolina and New Hampshire who are insisting that we need to shut our borders down to prevent illegal immigrants from bringing Ebola into our country.  Another Republican politician from Georgia wrote the head of the Centers for Disease Control espousing the same strategy.  All three of these Republicans are playing to the base instincts of the extreme right-wing of their party by insinuating that Latino immigrants are carrying the Ebola virus and will infect citizens of the United States.

If this weren’t so sad it would be ridiculous except that many folks will believe the irrationalities expressed by these politicians and then begin taking aggressive action against Latinos generally.  This is pure racism at its most fundamental.  This feeds into the hatred and prejudices that underlay the public policy process at many levels.  This is the same racism that led to the creation of the Voter ID Laws being perpetuated across this country.  This is the same racism that led to the building of a wall along the southern border of the United States that has created both humanitarian and environmental disasters in that region. 

Ebola Scare is Just Plain Old American Jingoism

 In July of this year, Rep. Phil Gingrey wrote the Director of the Center for Disease Control that he heard “Reports of illegal migrants carrying deadly diseases such as swine flu, dengue fever, Ebola virus and tuberculosis ….”  Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, pointed out that there were no Ebola cases in Latin America.  But you know as well as I do that as soon as someone with any social standing starts saying things, even if they are untrue, it will be picked up by the media and the average, ordinary common folk will believe him.  To their credit, several Hispanic Republicans have tried to distance themselves from this perception but to no avail.

I think that the only thing the Hispanic Republicans can do to disavow this racism is to switch parties.  Why hang out with people who hate you?  ¡Por favor manos! Think about who these people are, think about what they are saying about people like you and me, think about the lack of integrity being exhibited by these fear mongers.  But, I guess if you still want to hang around with these types of folks then I feel that you need to have a good, quiet moment to yourself and try and truthfully ask yourself why you continue to associate with these foul-mouthed, despicable humans who can see no other way to garner votes than to besmirch entire groups of people.

Henry Flores, PhD, is a Distinguished University Research Professor, Institute of Public Administration and Public Service; Director, Masters in Public Administration (MPA); Professor of International Relations and Political Science at St. Mary’s University.