What I love (really hate) about the report in yesterday’s New York Times about hate crimes against the Guatamalan community in West Palm Beach, Florida, is how right in the headline the fact that the crime victims are undocumented is highlighted (as “illegal”) as if their undocumented status makes it ok that they are being attacked. While the article attempts to make the point that the undocumented status of many Guatemalans makes them easy targets because of their distrust and fear of the criminal justice system, the fact that the NYT chooses to constantly use “illegal” as an adjective to describe the victims in an underhanded way lays the blame on the Guatemalans.

With such crimes on the rise — they are common enough to have a chilling street name, “Guat-bashing” — the Guatemalan-Maya Center in Lake Worth, Fla., and the Guatemalan Consulate in Miami, along with local law enforcement agencies, religious groups and banks, are working to help illegal immigrants from Guatemala protect themselves.

While the robberies, beatings, and even killings of immigrants are labeled as crimes, they are never called illegal. That label is saved for those being robbed, beaten, and killed. And nowhere are the real illegal activities being called hate crimes, which is exactly what they are since they target one specific population.

Via / The New York Times (Registration Required)