New York City
– HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which has helped more than
4.5 million people in its 125-year history, is calling for the
dismissal of Lou Dobbs, the CNN personality, who on Monday suggested
that immigrant rights groups use propaganda tactics reminiscent of the
Third Reich.

“Comparisons to Nazis – especially in this day and age – are
abhorrent,” said Gideon Aronoff, president and CEO of HIAS.  “Mr. Dobbs
has crossed the line between responsible television commentary and hate
speech propaganda of his own.  Keeping him on the air is essentially
sanctioning by CNN – which is why we’re asking CNN to remove Dobbs from
his very public platform.”

Referring to immigration advocates and San Francisco Mayor Gavin
Newsom, Dobbs said, “They might as well work for Hermann Goering; I
mean, they’re running so much propaganda, trying to confuse the debate,
the national dialogue, by talking about immigrants rather than illegal
aliens and legal immigrants. It’s mindless beyond belief.” (It is not
clear whether Dobbs actually meant Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, rather than Goering – who was actually commander of the Nazi Air Force – the Luftwaffe –
and who was the highest ranking government official who issued written
authorization for the Holocaust)  In a weekend speech, Mayor Newsom
reiterated San Francisco’s policy of not assisting federal officials
with immigration-related raids.

Aronoff says the Jewish community should be particularly concerned
about Mr. Dobb’s comments.  “Comprehensive immigration reform should
involve a civil, national conversation that includes the American
people and professionals who actually work with refugees,
asylum-seekers and immigrants; make policy, or both – not dominated by
TV blowhards, whose raison d’etre is entertainment. 
Setting himself up as an arbiter of common sense may make for amusing
television, but it is insulting to the serious matter of immigration
reform.”