Controversial clothiers American Apparel has released a provocative new ad, eschewing scantily clad Lolitas in favor of a statement on immigration reform. As the New York Times reports, “In a new series of ads, American Apparel is moving in a political direction. The cause is immigration reform, and the ads say in part that the status quo ‘amounts to an apartheid system’ and should be overhauled to create a legal path for undocumented workers to gain citizenship in the United States.”

In full, the ad announces:

“America’s immigration system is outdated, unsuited to the needs of our economy and to the values of our country. We should not be content with laws that punish hardworking people who want only to provide for their families, and deny businesses willing workers, and invite chaos at our border.” – President George Bush, State of the Union Address, February 5, 2005

At American Apparel, we agreed with the President’s call for immigration reform, so why has nothing been done for the last three years?

It’s time to give a voice to the voiceless. Businesses are afraid to speak to the media about immigration, frightened of reprisals by government agencies. But we cannot just sit in the shadows and watch the government and politicians exploit and misrepresent this matter to advance their own careers.

Over 12 million human beings have become integral to our society, economy and culture here in the USA, yet they do so in legal purgatory. While no serious political voice calls to send them back to their previous home countries, very few have the courage to admit that the only realistic option is some form of legal integration, coupled with a legitimate, forward-thinking immigration policy.

Migration and economic experts generally agree that the productivity and hard work of immigrants improves the economy, makes goods more affordable and available to US citizens, and created more jobs for US workers. Immigrants not only increase the wealth of the nation, they have contributed significantly to major scientific, medical and industrial advancements, as well as to the arts. Many of them have become great entrepreneurs too.

At what point are we going to recognize that the status quo amounts to an apartheid system? At what point will America stop living in a state of denial?

At American Apparel we support our workers. We support our community. We support Los Angeles. We support the pride of America and the American Dream.

Enough is enough.

It’s time to Legalize LA, and Legalize the USA.

The unconventional approach of the ad campaign mirrors that of the company itself. The largest clothing manufacturer in the United States, American Apparel has built a highly sexualized brand image, one that has included numerous charges of sexual harassment against CEO Dov Charney. At the same time, the company is a bastion of domestic production in a largely outsourced industry. It also offers generous benefits to its workers. As NPR reports, “Earning twice the California minimum wage, employees get subsidized lunches, subsidized health insurance, free on-site English classes and free bus tokens—even company bicycles to get to and from work. Charney likes to boast that American Apparel is ‘sweatshop free.’”

Of course, the company’s immigration ads only provoke in light of the controversy that’s been drummed up over immigration since 2005. Conservative media figures have exerted great effort to cast undocumented Latino workers as America’s new boogeyman. Lou Dobbs falsely suggested undocumented immigrants are responsible for a surge in leprosy; Pat Buchanan blamed immigration for the Virginia Tech massacre; Bill O’Reilly ascribed the deaths of eight people in a Bronx fire to New York City’s status as “a sanctuary city.”

A quick perusal of the comments sections of any major newspaper will testify to their success. Car crashes, the high costs of health care, failing schools, street crime, litter in the street, potholes, graffiti, identity theft, and all sorts of daily tragedies are routinely, and baselessly, blamed on “the illegals.” (A sidenote: What a horrible term, implying that a person’s existence can be illegal. What a sad attempt at dehumanization.)

The Republican Presidential field has tethered itself to this mindset, competing with one another to be the toughest on this supposed scourge. Their debates have devolved into purity tests over “amnesty” (i.e., recognizing the unfeasibility of deporting 12 million people) and “sanctuary mansions.” Laughably, Mike Huckabee even tried use the assassination of Benazir Bhutto to advocate for a border fence.

During his mercifully brief Presidential run, Tom Tancredo produced an inflammatory ad declaring, “There are consequences to open borders beyond the 20 million aliens who have come to take our jobs. Islamic terrorists now freely roam U.S. soil, Jihadists who froth with hate here to do as they have in London, Spain, Russia…The price we pay for spineless politicians who refuse to defend our borders against those who come to kill.” He was gleeful during the Republican debate featuring the “amnesty” and “sanctuary mansion” statements, declaring, “’All I’ve heard is people trying to out-Tancredo Tancredo,” he said. “It is great.’”

It’s sad that a clothing company is expressing a more thoughtful statement on immigration than the political party that will represent half of the Presidential ballot in 2008. But the immigration “debate” merely highlights the ways in which the Republican Party has become more of a belief cult than a philosophy of governance.

“Evolution doesn’t exist!” “Tax cuts raise revenue!” “The United States doesn’t torture!” “The illegals are going to make you speak Spanish!” “Iraq had WMDs!” “Single-payer medicine will kill you!” “Iran is the greatest global threat to peace!”

And so on and so forth, until the next Republican commandment is minted, prompting all of the candidates to out-swear one another in their fealty to it. One can only hope that American Apparel has their ad writers ready to work overtime in the year ahead.