Immigration Hysteria Hits Gotham

“Say what you will about the Minutemen, that small band of border-patrolling activists, but you’ve got to admire their knack at staging compelling political theater. Last April they launched a volunteer citizen campaign in Arizona along the border, spotting migrants and “doing the job the government refuses to do.” Hordes of international media came along for the ride, covering their every movement.

On the ground, the campaign was a bust: migrants simply avoided the area and volunteers spent most of their hours charring under the sun as they looked through binoculars into an empty desert. But it was brilliant PR. Fewer than 200 people sitting on lawn chairs became newsworthy, and even the Pope’s passing didn’t bump them from the top of the news cycle for very long.”

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