Last week, the Washington Post reported that Tesla CEO and Donald Trump super-fan Elon Musk was once, to use the term favored by MAGA, an "illegal." Which is to say, he did what the vast majority of undocumented immigrants do in the U.S. After he traveled here legally, he overstayed a visa and then worked without the legal authorization to do so. Investors were so worried the South African native would be deported that they even stipulated that he obtain legal status in their contracts, creating a paper trail proving his "illegal" status. As for why readers should care, the Post reporters offered a "hypocrisy" frame, noting, "Musk in recent months has amplified the Republican presidential candidate’s claims that 'open borders' and undocumented immigrants are destroying America."
The MAGA world shrugged, but not because they are especially talented at managing cognitive dissonance. No, they don't see this story as evidence of hypocrisy. I generally loathe semantic debates, but this one matters. The Post reporters assume, incorrectly, that when Musk, Trump and their allies are ranting about "illegals," they mean immigrants who don't have proper documentation to live and work in the U.S. But if you pay attention to how the word is used in context, it's clear Musk and company use "illegals" as a catch-all category for all non-white immigrants, and, increasingly, any native-born American citizen whose skin color or ethnic heritage MAGA dislikes. To MAGA, an undocumented white immigrant is fine. But a legal immigrant with darker skin — or even a native-born citizen — is an "illegal."
