Arab Immigrants: A Rhetorical Analysis

“The political, social, and legal pressure on Muslim communities in the name of “national security” has created a new form of American legal exceptionalism” (Elver 139). Since Arab immigrants where viewed as potential terrorist threats they were legally placed under surveillance as they could be a “national security threat” (Elver 139). The government started ‘taking suspected terrorists in violation of the law off the streets and [kept] them locked up” (Elver 140). These individuals who where taken into custody were targeted because the government was going after “Muslim-looking” people.” (Elver 144). By incarcerating Arab immigrants, the United States government as well as some citizens, thought they would be safe from terrorism. A few weeks following the attack on the Twin Towers, there was a survey that found Americans believed “Arab and Muslim Americans should be profiled and targeted for surveillance and interrogation in the name of national security” (Cook 3).

With American citizens scared of terrorism and the United States Government feeling at a loss, the rhetoric of “war

government has the ability to “imprison anyone they deem as threats” (Elver 140). This rhetoric is not only used in the media but actually put into practice, which is proven throughout U.S. history. During the time of “national insecurity, immigrants, both resident aliens and citizens, are always politically vulnerable” (Elver 140). For example, after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese internment camps were created out of a “national insecurity”. That is how the government got away with imprisoning anyone who appeared as Japanese, even if they were a legal citizen and had the documents to prove so. Similar actions were taken post 9/11, targeting Muslim Americans. History proves that when American homeland is attacked, there is very little resistance in targeting the specific ethnic groups that were associated with the U.S.