"I Can Microchip My Dog ... Why Can’t I Microchip an Illegal?"

There are lots of options once we start pretending that human beings who are different from us are somehow less worthy of respect: perhaps an old-fashioned brand burned into their skin, or a number tattooed on their arms. It seems that running in a Republican primary requires candidates to appeal to the worst attributes of likely voters.

"I Can Microchip My Dog ... Why Can’t I Microchip an Illegal?"
by Alex DiBranco
April 28, 2010

Pat Bertroche, a Republican primary candidate for Congress in Iowa, has illustrated perfectly why you don't refer to human beings as "illegals": it's dehumanizing. And once you've lost sight of someone's humanity, you feel comfortable saying and doing pretty much whatever you want to them.

At a Republican forum, where candidates vied to outdo one another with disturbing anti-immigrant rhetoric, Bertroche rose to a new high — or low — and beat his competition hands down. The Congressional hopeful said, referring to undocumented immigrants who are detained and deported, "I actually support microchipping them. I can microchip my dog so I can find it. Why can't I microchip an illegal?"...