Some of you will agree with my friend's response below and I can't say that I completely disagree with it, but it fails to address the point that I was making in my April 22nd post "Arizona Steps into the Dark." The fact that many (and I hope most) people abide by our immigration laws, does not justify stopping people to produce documents based on what will amount to be their racial and economic status.
I am probably going to make you mad, but that's nothing new. My comments are: I was raised to believe that the word illegal meant against the law. I am not for racial profiling, but when you break the law you have to expect consequences. ------'s brother wanted to come to the US for a visit. ------- had to do a lot of paperwork and it has taken about 5-6 years to go through the process. He was finally given permission to visit for a designated time period. They did it the right way. I know that the conditions in Mexico are not great for many. Conditions in MANY countries are not good. The US can't afford to take everyone in that wants to escape poverty, etc. We can argue more about this later.
For those of you who see this ... please read my post "Arizona Steps into the Dark" from April 22nd. I am not defending illegal immigration or illegal immigrants. However, I am saying very clearly that one will be "suspected" of being an illegal immigrant when they are brown skinned and poor--plain and simple. The problem of illegal immigration will only be solved when employers are held accountable for who they hire. It is Americans who do the hiring of illegal immigrants, and OFTEN take advantage by paying subsistence (or less) wages.
I admire those who immigrate to this country legally, and have gone through the process that can take years. This is the way that it should be done. I am not advocating for illegal immigrants. I'm advocating against a law that will institutionalize a practice that many have struggled against for years ... pulling people over because of what they look like. Now we're going to pull people over and ask for their papers and if they can't produce them then we get to haul them in for the next step. This sounds frighteningly familiar.
There will always be some who come to this country illegally looking for opportunity and some who will circumvent the process and our laws. That is not good. However, the problem we have today was created by US, ourselves ... not the illegal immigrants. Of course they come ... and for YEARS, we encouraged it and still do by looking the other way when employers do not verify immigration status at employment. Now, we propose pulling over "suspected" illegal immigrants. I will say again that the only way that I can think of that one might be suspected of being illegal is by their brown skin and their economic plight. We are in danger of returning to some very dark days if we allow this kind of practice to stand. And THIS after we have created our own circumstances.
I think some in this country have gone mad. I wonder how many of the Arizona state legislators who voted in favor of this measure have employed an undocumented nanny, housekeeper, or gardener .... hmmmmmm???? I wonder. I'm sure someone will research this and will be reporting the results post haste.
1 comment:
This was the response that I had for the person who left what I believe was a comment that completely missed my point:
It's probably going to make YOU mad, but I'm going to post your commentary. This has NOTHING to do with what I said. Read what I wrote again .... I do not, nor have ever defended illegal immigration.
Tell me how one is "suspected" of being illegal if it is not from the color of their skin and the kind of clothes and car they drive?! I guarantee you that light skin latinos driving BMW's will not be questioned about their immigration status. It will be poor people standing in front of Home Depot. That is MORALLY wrong.
People come here illegally because AMERICANS employ them and take advantage of their illegal status by paying less than subsistence wages in many cases. Illegal immigration will only be curbed when the government aggressively prosecutes the EMPLOYERS. When illegals cannot get jobs they won't come. Our current economy has proven that out. Illegal immigration in the border states is way down this past year. It is still happening but it is down like 20%. What do you think would happen if Americans actually obeyed the immigration labor laws. Illegals would flood home in droves.
We delude ourselves into thinking that we are where we are materially, financially, and economically because of our hard work. It is PRIMARILY a function first of where we were born and SECONDARILY a function of to whom we were born. Our hard work comes in about THIRD. It is important, but it has the less to do with our lot in life than the circumstances we have no control over.
If you take the time to read and UNDERSTAND what I wrote one more time, you will realize that I NEVER ONCE defended illegal immigration. I am adamantly opposed to stopping people because of the way they look. They did that to Jews and gays during WWII.
During poor economic times our country has a history of targeting groups to blame for our circumstances. Here we go again
The law in Arizona will be overturned. Mark my words. It is immoral and unconstitutional.
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