“It's We the People…, Not We the Illegals”: Extreme Speech in Prince William County, Virginia's Immigration Debate

Abstract

Prince William County, Virginia received national attention when county lawmakers voted in July 2007 to enact one of the nation's most sweeping anti-immigrant resolutions. Help Save Manassas, a local anti-immigration group, assumed a prominent role in the county's immigration debate and in leading the charge for local government action. An analysis of Help Save Manassas’ newsletters reveals the role of extreme speech in social change. By linking patriotism to an anti-immigration stance, many of the perspectives expressed in the newsletters achieved legitimacy in the public sphere, ultimately influencing public policy. This case study reveals one strategy by which extremist groups make their views mainstream and in so doing underscores the importance of attending to the vernacular of conservative counterpublics.

Keywords:

• Counterpublics
• Extreme Speech
• Immigration
• Political Communication
• Vernacular

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this article was presented at the Eastern Communication Association's Annual Convention, April 24, 2010. The author thanks Raymie McKerrow and anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.

Notes

Newsletters use the term “illegal immigrant” or “illegal alien.” “Illegal alien,” although a legitimate legal reference, has negative connotations (DeGenova & Ramos-Zayas, 2003). Thus, I refer to undocumented and documented immigrants unless quoting from a particular source.

Under the name of “Black Velvet Bruce Li,” Letiecq maintains one of the most influential and arguably divisive political blogs in the state of Virginia (Miroff, 2007; http://www.bvbl.net/).

Rarely do newsletters distinguish between documented and undocumented immigrants. One notable exception is when HSM noted that its actions against day-laborers benefitted “true immigrants.”.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lisa M. Gring-Pemble

Lisa M. Gring-Pemble (Ph.D., University of Maryland, 2000), is an associate professor at George Mason University.