With the possible exception of farms that rely on migrant workers, there probably is no activity in these United States so dependent on the work of immigrants, illegal and otherwise,as the one to which the family of Lou Dobbs is devoted. Although I'm sure Dobbs himself employs no illegals directly, he has no problem spending lots and lots of money on businesses that do.
Lou Dobbs married his high school sweetheart, had two kids, and became quite a big shot at CNN. At that time CNN employed a Mexican-American, a daughter of immigrants, named Debi Segura. Dobbs and his first wife divorced; he married Segura, and they had twin girls. By all accounts they are very accomplished young women. Both Hillary and Heather Dobbs earned admission to Harvard, and they both excel at the rarefied sport of "equitation" or show jumping.
You have to have access to a lot of money to compete in this sport. Equiworld Magazine comments on a 2004 behind the scenes book about the sport by noted equestrienne, Vicky Moon:
Children of celebrities, illegal immigrant workers, large corporation heirs, and members of royalty, all meet in one place - Wellington's Winter Equestrian Festival, the beginning of the Grand Prix Show Jumping Circuit Season.
In the book itself, Ms Moon writes of the broad spectrum of nations represented:
This melting pot of international equine aficionados does not include the countless numbers of illegal Spanish-speaking immigrants who shovel the forty tons of poop a day.
Two of those "children of celebrities" mingling with the "Illegal immigration workers" are Heather and Hillary Dobbs. And it's not just the kids:
Celebrities descend upon the horse world of Wellington from January through April - from parents like Bruce Springsteen, Glenn Close, John Cleese, and Lou Dobbs, who are ringside whenever their children compete.
It costs a fortune to participate in the "Circuit." Starting each winter in Florida, the circuit moves on to make stops in the spring along the "Main Line" of Philadelphia, at Devon, as well as at Saratoga Springs in New York. Midsummer, the "circuit" is in East Dorset, Vermont, and then comes to New York's famed "Hamptons" at the end of August, with additional stops in between.
In this sport, spending $100,000 on a horse is not at all unusual - prices often are in the half million dollar range. In Florida this past January,the Dobbs' daughters' talked of their horses:
Heather: I own two horses, Cobretti and Corlett. I've had Cobe longer, and I can't help but have a stronger bond with him, but Corlett is so sweet and I love her just as much! They both try so hard for me. I also leased two equitation horses this year, Raven and Gulliver.
Hillary: Not including the many horses lounging at our farm in New Jersey, I own three horses with whom I compete.
Most participants keep the horses they ride in competition at their "stable,' so these seven horses are probably boarded for a good part of the year at the stable of the twin's trainer,the legendary Missy Clark, in Warren, Vermont. The stable organizes the transport of the horses, as well as excercise and grooming. At each stop on the circuit, the stable establishes its own "barn", sometimes huge tents that house the horses during the event. The length of the event varies - the stop in Vermont is one of the longest, at close to four weeks.
It's a sport that places a great deal of emphasis on appearance. The rider wears a virtual uniform. The horse's mane is braided and its coat clipped to look its best. Some horses have tails that are considered a bit skimpy, and so a "fall" of fake hair, carefully dyed to match the original, must be interwoven with the horse's real hair to get a fuller look. Naturally, the stables charge for these services - one charges "$125 and up for Show Body Clipping, $20 for Mane Pulling" etc etc The rider's boots are often $500 or more, with saddles in a range of $2000 to $3500. While on the circuit the cost of grooms, horse stall mucker's etc and their food and housing expenses are paid for by the stable. This cost is then split between the owners of the horses participating in the event.
Luckily the "populist" Lou Dobbs is a rich man. The bills that he pays to Missy Clark's stable must be enormous. There are lots of additional costs, like entry fees to compete in a show, travel expenses, etc. (Not to mention legal fees: Once, Mrs. Dobbs was arrested for trying to carry a firearm aboard a flight from Newark Airport to watch her daughters compete.) The farm in New Jersey that his daughter Hillary referred to is over 300 acres, and has a house for his Mexican Immigrant In-Laws. These kinds of costs can put a dent into a guy's income, even if the guy is Lou Dobbs, earning $6 million plus a year.
The vast majority of those who muck out the stalls, tack the horses, clean up the shit in the show ring, set up the fences - the grooms, are Mexican immigrants. The fact that many of them are illegal is common knowledge among those involved in the sport. Most speak only a very limited English. An illegal immigrant, without home or family in the States,finds it easier to be a kind of migrant worker traveling the circuit. Many of the meals and hotel stays that Lou Dobbs would get charged for on his monthly bill from Missy Clark's stable are for immigrants. Part of the approximately $1500 per month per horse for basic boarding goes to pay the salaries of these immigrants.
Lou and his wife Debi have often watched their daughters compete at the Hamptons Classic, which is at the end of August on Long Island. Each year there's one special day, called "Fiesta Day." It's sponsored by Hoy, the second largest Spanish daily in the U.S. Capping Fiesta Day in 2003 was the groom's competition, an event where grooms "completed two phases of competition, the grooming phase and the riding phase, where they showed their skills at the walk, trot and canter." The Press release , which declared that the winner was "Mexico's Memo Gonzalez," also noted that "Gonzalez has worked for Missy Clark of North Run located in Warren,VT for the past two years."
The New Republic has said that
Dobbs is downright obsessive about the issue, and he isn't above nativist scare-mongering--calling Mexican illegal immigrants an "army of invaders" who are bringing leprosy and malaria across the Rio Grande.
To be fair, Dobbs has clarified and essentially retracted the leprosy accusation; but he remains an obsessive, scare-mongering nativist, fearful of an invasion: Until, of course one of his daughters' horses needs a rub down.
UPDATE: Tancredo also ignores contributions made by immigrants.(h/t memeorandum)
Blueyblog concurs that Republicans are trolling for pork, and there is no principled argument going on. It seems to me that it is worse to sell a vote (The GOP) than it is to buy one (Harry Reid). In our country's attempt to fight illegal drugs - we quite correctly fault the dealer (GOP) more than we do the buyer. (meme)
UPDATE II: It looks like Dobbs and his ilk are winning,at least according to Politico
Taylor Marsh expresses some reasonable concerns - and wants increased
emphasis on the employers - how about those that employ those employers?
(h/t memeorandum )
