Coming to a television near you: scare tactics (and we’re not referring to a mediocre reality show).In an advertisement the Coalition for the Future American Worker (CFAW) says: "Last year 2.5 millions of Americans lost jobs ... Yet with millions jobless, our government is still bringing in a million and a half foreign workers to take American jobs."Apparently the CFAW is a coalition of anti-immigration groups whose spokesman is the founder of NumbersUSA.
The TV spot, aimed at US workers threatened by a further downturn in the economy, concludes with the question: "Could your job be next?"
The CFAW had previously run ads in the 2004 that, according to FactCheck.org, was factually accurate though those facts were distorted by a political message. Such was definitely the case with the vaguely worded, fear-mongering ads the CFAW started airing this week.
In order to minimize the problems related to immigration. The complexities of the immigration debate cannot be solved by oversimplification or misleading the public. Thus, the CFAW’s ads do nothing but detract from meaningfully discussing the pros and cons of immigration.
Image- solidarityeconomy.net (2007 CFAW print ad that tried to equate immigration reform with African-American economic hardship).
Online Sources- FactCheck.org, Wikipedia, AFP
