The “anti-immigration elephant in the room at CNN” is under fire.

The elephant guns are held by left-wing Hispanic activist groups, like No Border Wall, Somos Un Pueblo, and the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities who have united behind journalist Roberto Lovato’s BastaDobbs.com campaign to oust television host and Emmy-award winner Lou Dobbs from the ranks of CNN’s news and opinion hosts. (Basta means “enough” in Spanish.)

His popular show, Lou Dobbs Tonight, has been part of the “most trusted name in news” since 2003 and presents a variety of viewpoints on hot-button issues like jobs, trade, and education.

Basta Dobbs’ main beef with Dobbs is his frequent reporting on immigration, claiming he not only uses “faulty reporting” (e.g. Dobbs has legitimately discussed the Reconquista movement), but that he “promotes” the views of “extremists.”

Spokespersons afflilated with the Minuteman Project, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the so-called Birther Movement, as well as Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio are among the “extremists” who champion American sovereignty and rule of law that the critics are referring to.

Lovato declined an invitation to appear on Dobbs’ show to discuss his campaign saying he wouldn’t appear unless Jonathan Klein, CNN/U.S. president, appeared alongside him. Lovato’s letter to Dobbs noted:  “… as much as the BastaDobbs.com campaign targets your long history of faulty, incendiary reporting and its effects on Latino communities, our issue is not so much with you as the network that provides you with a platform.”

Lovato does, however, approve of the predictably statist reporting done by CNN’s Latino talent Rick Sanchez, Thelma Gutierrez, and Soledad O’Brien, who hosted the “Latino in America” special.

One wonders what the “rising tide of anti-Latino sentiment in the United States” that Basta Dobbs is also complaining about really is because, these days, it’s just the opposite. Latino Power is evident everywhere.

The NFL just celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month by featuring segments of the pre-game festivities and even the game itself in Spanish. Superstar Latino singers Marc Anthony and Gloria Estefan are minority owners of the Miami Dolphins. The brouhaha over the illegal alien Halloween costume resulted in major retailers pulling it off their web sites. And what about the one-week suspension of ESPN analyst Bob Griese for the so-called ethnic comment he made about NASCAR’s Colombian driver, Juan Pablo Montoya? The wildly successful Montaya, himself, is proof that even the stock car racing industry is eager to reach out to Latinos.

Montana State University, of all places, recently hired its first-ever Hispanic-American female president, Waded Cruzado. And Sonia Sotomayor, of course, made history by becoming the first Puerto Rican appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Anyone else notice how the helpful “en español” sign is now a staple of American society?

These few examples (and there are many, many more) indicate that Hispanics, the United States’ largest minority, are seen as serious hires and customers. Their votes, money, attention, and favor are constantly being courted in the Nuevo America.

You could even argue that Lou Dobbs himself has jumped on that bandwagon.

One of his correspondents is the pretty, Argentinian-born Ines Ferré, and Dobbs’ own wife, Debi Lee Segura, is Mexican-American. Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR); John Trasviña, former president of Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF); and other progressive leaders of ethnic advocacy groups have been guests on Dobbs’ telecasts. Always respectfully treated, by the way.

But somehow Dobbs is guilty of “xenophobia” and being “anti-Latino.”

Lovato does have a point: A regular feature of Dobbs’ show has been to expose the perils and costs to the United States due to unrestricted illegal immigration. These include lost jobs, depressed wages, crime, disease, higher taxes, loss of freedoms, and a diluted national identity, all of which are undeniable and escalating continuously. Dobbs has utilized statistics, interviews, and man-on-the-street reporting (especially by the terrific Casey Wian) to bolster his positions, leaving little doubt in viewers’ eyes’ that the immigration crisis needs our federal government’s attention immediately.

The American public agrees. A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll revealed that 73 percent of those questioned want to see a reduction in illegal immigration.

I have watched Lou Dobbs Tonight for years and was thrilled that a letter I wrote to him was read on the show. As a Latina woman, I have no sense of any fearmongering.

For me, it’s not Basta Dobbs, it is Viva Dobbs.

Isabel (Izzy) Lyman's op. eds. and articles have appeared in the Miami Herald, Wall Street Journal, Dallas Morning News, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Investor's Business Daily, Boston Herald, Los Angeles Daily Journal, National Review, Homeschooling Today, Chronicles, The New American, Daily Oklahoman, Middle American News, Ventura County Star, and Lancaster Sunday News.

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RemnantMan said:

	Only an informed people...... Solo Un Pueblo Informado Puede Esperar A Retener - Y Ser Digno DE - Esa Libertado Con Lo Cual Se Ha Benedecio Nuestra Pais. Western Islands
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October 29, 2009
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AreWeFreeOrWhat said:

	... Geez, if these people would only fight this hard in their "own" homeland they would no longer feel a need to leave.
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October 29, 2009
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V Martinez said:

There are Me I think the US has every right to be concerned about illegal immigration and has the sovereign right to control who enters THEIR country. A border is there to define the land that belongs to a people. Just as Mexico values the conservation of their national integrity and identity. So too does the US have every right to want to conserve their geographical, cultural, economic, and political integrity. After thousands of years of this implicit understanding between countries, all with their own immigratin quotas, why all of the sudden is there one country, the US, that has to unilateraly give up their rights under international law? What I do disagree with is depriving immigrants, legal or not, of their right to education and health benefits IF they have contributed to the national economy. The US can't expect to profit from their labor and then turn around and not provide them benefits. Legal or not, it doesn't serve anybody for the US to have unhealthy, uneducated residents. They opened the package, used the product, they pay for it. The children are certainly not to blame and it's just inhumane and ultimately costly. I think a clear distinction should be made between people who come here to mooch and those who work. I know many hard-working earnest Mexicans, but I also know a lot of Mexicans who are a detriment to this country. I think the US has the sovereign right to choose who enters THEIR country. I am part Mexican and grew up in Mexico. I love Mexico and its people. I suspect Lou Dobbs does, too.

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October 29, 2009
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Cazie said:

	... my comment didn't post...
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October 30, 2009
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Still Free said:

Does their country really want them? If so, why don't we hear Latino leaders expressing any remorse over losing so many citizens? Is it possible that these Latinos are being paid to come here? God-fearing people follow the Commandments, one of which is "Thou Shall Not Steal." Much easier to steal from your neighbor than to create your own. And by crossing the border illegally, a person has already broken the law, and branded himself forever as a dishonest cheater. Lou Dobbs speaks the truth. Therefore, a smear campaign must be launched and he must be vilified. As always, the goal is to silence the opposition. "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.".....Edmund Burke 1728-1797

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October 31, 2009
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trung nguyen said:

... I don't see where crossing the border to try for a better life is dishonest or stealing. lets not forget that the majority of americans are immigrants who came to do just that. as for the loss of jobs and wages. lets just focus on agriculture. there is one country that is fiercely anti-immigrant and does not allow immigrants to work in agriculture. That country is japan. last i checked the cost for a cantaloupe is about $40 US dollars. I don't advocate hiring illegal aliens to work in farming but that is the reality. I fact i believe that farmers that do should be heavy penalized. just remember that there will be consequences be prepared to pay for them. I am. unfortunately it will have little impact on hospitals as illegals aren't the only people that are uninsured. Uninsured patients often can't pay sending hospitals into bankruptcy. of course the migrant farm worker would be well paid, unionized and have insurance so that would definitely help. guess we just gotta get used to $40 dollar fruit.

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November 11, 2009
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LUTHER G. BROSSA said:

PRODUCTION ENGINEER Just wanted to send my deepest love and appreciation to Lou Dobbs, for his unflinching efforts at protecting what's left of our once-great nation. The special-interest-racists only amplify what they differ with; never did they point out his warnings against unfettered globalism; an economic fantasy that has yielded as much bitter fruit for ‘their’ people, as well as the rest of us. We will all be looking to Lou’s next ‘incarnation’ and what revelations he’ll deem worthy of release. May the gods protect him, his loved ones…and those of us who still believe in justice.

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November 12, 2009
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