Laura Ingraham Repeatedly Mocks An Immigration Protester For Speaking Accented English

On her radio show, Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham repeatedly mocked then imitated the accent of a woman whose native language appeared not to be English as the woman made comments in protest of the Obama administration's record number of deportations.  

On the November 21 edition of her radio program, Ingraham aired comments from a pro-immigration reform protest in which a woman states: “We are here to say to President Barack Obama, not one more deportations [sic].” The protest was ostensibly part of the national campaign by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) called NotOneMoreDeportation.com or #Not1More to protest and expose what immigrants' rights activists view as unjust Immigration laws. One of the campaign's aims is to “collectively challeng[e] unfair deportations.”

Following the woman's comments, Ingraham said: “Wait, what did she say at the end? I can't -- I need a translator. I speak Spanish too. I'd rather have her just speak Spanish, at least I'd understand that.” She then went on to affect the woman's accent:

Ingraham's comment that she would have preferred the woman speak Spanish are at odds with what conservative media figures have been saying for years -- mainly that immigrants who want to settle in this country have to learn to speak English.

Ingraham's mocking of the woman's accent is hardly the first instance in which a conservative media figure has ridiculed an immigrant whose native language is not English. On Fox News, contributor Jesse Watters repeatedly made fun of the accents of foreign-born immigrants in New York City. And Rush Limbaugh repeatedly mocked a speech by Chinese President Hu Jintao on his visit to the United States, speaking in mock Chinese to purportedly mimic how Jintao was speaking.