I haven’t heard people talk about it lately, but back when The Sopranos was a hit show on HBO, a lot of Italian-Americans spoke up about what they considered to be negative stereotyping. It was even an issue that was dealt with on the show itself. And it was a legitimate conversation to have in spite of the fact that La Cosa Nostra is a real organization with a real presence in New Jersey. I’m reminded of this when I listen to Rep. Steve King (R-IA) say that we can’t have immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship for Latinos because some of them might be (or have been) drug smugglers. Certainly, drug smuggling is a real thing, and there are Mexican gang members in this country who are heavily involved in the drug trade. We can talk honestly and frankly about that, and even have entertaining television shows like Weeds that portray Mexican drug gangs, without it being some kind of slur against all Latinos.
But Rep. King is ignoring the fact that all the immigration reform bills that are circulating require that potential citizens have a clean criminal record and pass a background check. If they are known to belong to certain criminal organizations (including foreign organizations) they cannot receive citizenship.
If the Senate bill had been law during the first half of the 20th-Century, it would made it difficult for members of the mafia to immigrate here or to gain citizenship, but it wouldn’t have prevented millions of law-abiding Italians from coming here and voting.
That’s why Steve King’s argument is so offensive. Because, if you apply that kind of argument to any “white” group of immigrants, you can immediately see how disrespectful (and disreputable) it is.
