Given all of the talk about immigration in recent months, I thought that I would weigh in with some thoughts. I know that most who read this won’t agree with the content, but that’s not why I write, so feel free to disagree, just try not to be disagreeable.
Last week I was reading an article on Yahoo about Senator John McCain and the head of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano taking a tour of the Arizona border along with the head of Border Security. After the tour Senator McCain decided to hold a town hall meeting to address some of the issues that voters in Arizona might have with his new found support of the “Path to Citizenship” for the eleven or twelve million people living in the country without proper documentation, or as most call them “Illegal Aliens”. Before I go any further, I should disclose that I lived in AZ for a little over three years while in college, my mother and sister currently live there and I still go there once or twice a year. In addition, I spent nearly six years living in Texas and New Mexico, so I am somewhat familiar with the southwest and the people who live there. The following are some of the comments attributed to folks attending the senator McCain’s town hall.
One man yelled that only guns would discourage illegal immigration.
Another man complained that illegal immigrants should never be able to become citizens or vote.
A third man said illegal immigrants were illiterate invaders who wanted free government benefits.
I learned early in life that hatred, ignorance and fear are a really bad combination in a person or group of people and that has not changed.
The one thing that I think we can all agree on is that America is a nation of immigrants. If we really believe the last statement, why then is there so much vitriol exhibited towards Hispanic people who want to stay here for a better life? Caucasians (white people) should be the most accepting of people who came to America illegally, since you were the original “Illegal Aliens”. That’s right you were the very first illegals in America! Don’t take my word for it, just ask any Native American (American Indian) and they’ll explain it to you. The fact that America became a great nation at the hands of your ancestors doesn’t change the fact that they were not invited here by the American Indians, and that by definition makes them Illegal Aliens, no if’s and’s or but’s about it. The people who now call Hispanics and others illegals never give a thought to the fact that your ancestors came to this country and for lack of a better term, they stole America from the American Indians. Not only did they steal their land, they killed countless numbers and then turned around and confined those remaining to reservations which were in many cases hundreds of miles from their original homelands. In addition, many of the most aggressive supporters of closing the border and deportation live in the American Southwest, yet these folks seem to forget that the states of AZ, TX, NM and CA all belonged to Mexico. Many of the people that are now called illegals may just be attempting to peacefully take back the land taken from their ancestors in the Mexican American War. The fact that these states are now being overrun by people from Mexico and other Latin American countries, that’s a “Homecoming” not illegal immigrationJ
Just to ensure we’ve got this right, you illegally take over a country, put the real owners on reservations, and then you take over part of a neighboring country and tell those people that they are the illegals when they try to return. By now I know that some reading this are breathing fire with smoke spewing from your heads but facts are facts. Poor people both black and white are opposed to immigration because their worried about Hispanics taking away jobs that oh by the way neither group is really willing to do. There is also a group of people who fear that the day is soon approaching when America won’t be a predominantly Caucasian country any longer, and then there’s the group who think that all Hispanics are on public assistance at their expense. My question to those worried about jobs, is have you seen the type of work that you claim immigrants are stealing from you? Do you really want to wash dishes, dig ditches, clean toilets and yards for minimum wage? I think not, or those jobs wouldn’t have been available to be stolen in the first place. If you’re worried about the country not being white enough, stop worrying, white people still have 90% of the wealth in America and there is not much chance of that changing in any or our lifetimes. In addition since we all know the real golden rule is “he who has the gold rules” so like I said, stop worrying, you’ll be just fine. Finally, if your concern is about that pesky public assistance thing, it’s most a myth. Most Hispanic people in this country work hard every day and pay taxes just like you and I and while some are on public assistance, that is a very small percentage. If anyone is getting a raw deal, it’s the Hispanics who pay taxes into Social Security and can’t collect from the system because they aren’t legal citizens.
After all I’ve said thus far, let it be noted that I am not a fan of illegal immigration by anyone, however according to most estimates there are over 11 million people currently living in the country who came here without documents. Fortunately for these people, the solutions of the idiots quoted at the beginning of this article aren’t viable solutions, and I hate to break it to the let’s round them all up and deport them all crowd, that’s not a viable option either, but at some point we have to do something so let’s start by recognizing that these people are going to remain in the country one way or the other.
Finally, to Senator McCain, I’m happy to see your conversion back to looking for a solution to the immigration problem, especially since I remember that you were working with the late Ted Kennedy on such a solution prior to his death. Unfortunately once you started running for president and figured out that you couldn’t get the IWV unless you reversed course on immigration, you completely walked away from that commitment. Now that you and the rest of the Republican Party realize that unless you kiss a little Hispanic ass your election chances will be very limited in national elections you’re back on board with reform and a path to citizenship. Good for you John, that’s great news, especially since if the tone of your town hall is any indication, it looks like you may lose the IWV in your next reelection campaign and a few thousand Hispanic votes may prove to be the difference for you.
As you can see, I don’t have any answers on immigration, but I couldn’t help but point out the irony of the ancestors of the Original Illegals now being in a position of having to figure out what to do about illegal immigration.
I’M JUST SAYIN