Many people seem to feel that illegal immigrants are vile scum who break our immigration laws expressly to rape our women, kill our men, and tax our welfare and health care systems. After hearing Michelle Malkin speak, I was struck by her obviously hysterical portrait of illegals, which is completely false for the overwhelming majority of them.
I like illegal immigrants. That's right, I do. They have the guts to flee the disasterous problems in their own country and seek new frontiers in the US. They take enormous risks to come here, walking through deserts, piling into flimsy vehicles, and going for long periods of time without food or water. All so they can work here and send their earnings down to their long-suffering families back in Mexico.
Yes, they are lawbreakers. So are most of us; do you not go 55 miles an hour in a 45 zone much of the time? Do you not arrange your tax return to pay as little tax as possible? Of course you do.
Furthermore, they are defying a faceless, incompetent bureaucracy. Is it any wonder that illegals pour into this country when legal entry is so difficult? Michelle Malkin, in her speech, commented that it was not fair for her to have to go through these bureaucratic hoops, while illegals can just hop on a bus and come back here. When farmers defy unfair laws, you criticise the laws, not the farmers. Could the same not be true here?
I am not saying illegals are perfect, but they do the jobs most of us don't want to do, and they work hard and do them well. From what I have seen, most of our native entry-level workers are apathetic, spoiled and rebellious; Mexicans come to do our work, and don't complain.
Now, Michelle Malkin has some valid points. Should we reform our visa system to control entry by terrorists more carefully? Sure we should. Should we amend our "catch and release" policy so people who've committed serious crimes are not dumped across the border, soon to return? Of course.
But should we write a book implying that illegals are evil criminals who should be ejected out of this country as soon as humanly possible? And we should spend billions and billions of dollars on efforts to close our borders? I think not.
Why not?
Because it looks a lot like a war against hispanics, even those who are in the country legally. Those here in California will not vote for a Republican for as long as this issue is prominent. What you're going to do is split the Republican party over this issue, and ensure the Democrats a permanent lock on the Statehouse.
More to the point, all of this hateful talk about illegals strikes me as UnAmerican, contrary to the principles we hold dear. Illegals are trying to better themselves, to find a better, fuller, more satisfying life.
Remember the sign on the Statue of Liberty:
Bring usThe hatred I hear in your voices for illegals will force everyone who is an immigrant, is the child of an immigrant, or is friends with an immigrant to vote against you. If fully expressed, as you folks seem to want, it will create 90-10 margins for the Democrats among Hispanic voters, and our party will be finished. Frankly, it appalls me that people I generally like and respect are listening seriously to this kind of talk.
your tired,
your poor,
your huddled masses
Yearning to break free ...
Before I close this up, I should respond to Michelle Malkin's point about Al Queda and immigration law. Is it true the Al Queda members could flood into this country from Mexico if our borders are not closed?
Yes, it is true.
But I feel we have better ways of catching them. Hit their money trail, for example. Or check anyone who has contact with suspected Al Queda cells and form a pattern. This investigation method has the massive advantage of only affecting the civil rights of potential Al Queda members, not all tourists. It will spot Al Queda members already here - and we have reason to believe most of their network is already in place. And it also has the advantage of being much, much cheaper. So don't consider the Al Queda connection a reason to majorly inconvenience everyone who ever enters this country from another nation.
I love Free Republic, because it symbolizes, well, a free republic. If we want to close our borders, we are going to make this more into a police state ... and in the end, this is not in the interests of anyone on this thread.
D
PS I am pinging some of my friends on Free Republic to respond to this message. Note that this does not indicate whether I believe they would support or oppose me on this topic, which I know is explosive around here.
Do you donate at least 20% of your wages to the illegal alien charities? If you don't then you're just spouting PURE BS.
By the way, if we ever meet , be sure to identify yourself and I'll do my best to knock some sense into your head.
To begin with, this statement is a non-sequituer. It does not follow that closing the borders=police state. Your diatribe sounds an awful lot like Bill Maher's comment about what constitutes "bravery" after 9/11. This is not hysteria -- it is a reaction to an observed and measured phenomenon.
The rest of your "argumentation" fails with very little work. The "they do jobs no one else will do" has not been true for over 20 years. The "everyone breaks the law" argument is particularly and spectacularly specious. By that argumentation jaywalking is the legal and moral equivilant to premeditated murder!
Please return to DU or come back with something better than the tired liberal whine we see in California and Mexican newspapers.
Thanks for the ping, B4 -- sorry I'm late to the party.
Many people seem to feel that illegal immigrants are vile scum who break our immigration laws expressly to rape our women, kill our men, and tax our welfare and health care systems. After hearing Michelle Malkin speak, I was struck by her obviously hysterical portrait of illegals, which is completely false for the overwhelming majority of them.'Hysterical?' I don't think so -- we're a nation at war. Many speculative fiction writers have portrayed "future" wars as being fought not among nations, but among corporate entities, and quasi-nation pseudo-states, and by God, one of those quasi-states declared war on the US on 9/11.
In a time of war, you have to look at your defenses. You have to recognize who are your friends and who are not. And I don't know that we can recognize Mexico as our friends. Thanks to an open borders policy, they can admit anyone from anywhere. And thanks to our toilet paper-thin border with Mexico, those folks can enter this country without as much as a by-your-leave. At least the border with Canada could be called balsa wood in comparison.
I like illegal immigrants. That's right, I do. They have the guts to flee the disasterous problems in their own country and seek new frontiers in the US. They take enormous risks to come here, walking through deserts, piling into flimsy vehicles, and going for long periods of time without food or water. All so they can work here and send their earnings down to their long-suffering families back in Mexico.And does this mean that you don't have a problem with those entering this country from Haiti? Why, they certainly are entering the nation at "enormous risk," in "flimsy vehicles" and "going for long periods without food or water.
Contrary to many here, not only do I think that we need to have stringent controls on those entering from Mexico, but also on those from Haiti and Cuba as well. We give "special exception" for "refugees" from Cuba, but let's call 'em what they are -- illegal aliens. Those Cubans have entered this country just as illegally as those from Mexico or Haiti. But because we've got a "small" philosophical problem with Fidel Castro, they get a pass? I don't think so.
They are just as much part of the problem as those from below the border. And they pose just as much risk as those from elsewhere. My point is that to effectivcely enforce a tightened southern border, we also need to stem the tide of those coming here from across the Florida Straits.
Yes, they are lawbreakers. So are most of us; do you not go 55 miles an hour in a 45 zone much of the time? Do you not arrange your tax return to pay as little tax as possible? Of course you do.Whether we are "lawbreakers" or not is immaterial to this issue. The issue is defending the borders of this soverign nation from those who would invade - one way or another.
Don't get me wrong - I've got no problem with legal immigration. Plenty do it all the time, and there's nothing preventing it, especially for those from a non-opporessive regime in Mexico.
I am not saying illegals are perfect, but they do the jobs most of us don't want to do, and they work hard and do them well. From what I have seen, most of our native entry-level workers are apathetic, spoiled and rebellious; Mexicans come to do our work, and don't complain.So, since they are willing to become our "underclass" and do all the "grunt" jobs that we "don't want to do" then it's OK to let them in? How much more condescending can you be? This proposal sounds little different from the liberal "we're from the Governement, we're here to "help" you" mentality. And furthermore, who are you to say what jobs people here want and don't want to do? When people enter "survival" mode, they do whatever job they have the opportunity and skill-set to manage to be able to do, all while they find a way to scrabble out of whatever hole they've ended up in.
Because it looks a lot like a war against hispanics, even those who are in the country legally. Those here in California will not vote for a Republican for as long as this issue is prominent. What you're going to do is split the Republican party over this issue, and ensure the Democrats a permanent lock on the Statehouse.Because it "looks" like a war against Hispanics? Or it looks like a soverign nation protecting itself? One who happens to have more in its coffers, and therefore is ripe for the picking?More to the point, all of this hateful talk about illegals strikes me as UnAmerican, contrary to the principles we hold dear. Illegals are trying to better themselves, to find a better, fuller, more satisfying life.
The hatred I hear in your voices for illegals will force everyone who is an immigrant, is the child of an immigrant, or is friends with an immigrant to vote against you. If fully expressed, as you folks seem to want, it will create 90-10 margins for the Democrats among Hispanic voters, and our party will be finished. Frankly, it appalls me that people I generally like and respect are listening seriously to this kind of talk.I've had this conversation with hchutch previously. If we grant amnesty to illegals, you will see illegals enter this country like never before. You think there's a flood coming across the Rio Grande basin now, just you wait. And if you think all those brand new illegals will "gladly" vote Republican, then your rose-colored glasses are thicker than I thought.
There will be a torrent like never before into this country, and they'll set up shop in Texas, in Arizona, in California, in Colorado, and begin to work their way northward and eastward. And of course, if it's OK for them to enter, then what about the Haitians and Cubans? Ready for literally hundreds of leaky washtub excuses for boats in the Florida Straits? Ready for dozens of stolen airplanes landing in the Everglades?
Be careful of what you wish for. You just might get it.
Before I close this up, I should respond to Michelle Malkin's point about Al Queda and immigration law. Is it true the Al Queda members could flood into this country from Mexico if our borders are not closed?Do you realize that we are at war with Al Qaeda? At war with radical Islam? Do you realize that they will stop at nothing? Do you realize that if we haven't been able to catch 'em all after this long that opening the borders will make it that much harder? This isn't Pokemon, y'know (Y'gotta catch 'em all!). This is our very survival at stake. It's not a game. Think carefully about what you're asking for. Think very carefully.Yes, it is true.
But I feel we have better ways of catching them. Hit their money trail, for example. Or check anyone who has contact with suspected Al Queda cells and form a pattern. This investigation method has the massive advantage of only affecting the civil rights of potential Al Queda members, not all tourists. It will spot Al Queda members already here - and we have reason to believe most of their network is already in place. And it also has the advantage of being much, much cheaper. So don't consider the Al Queda connection a reason to majorly inconvenience everyone who ever enters this country from another nation.
I'm not claiming to have all the answers - I don't think draconian measures are necessary, contrary to the thoughts of some, both here and elsewhere. But Pollyana-ish dreams of opening the borders and having illegals run into our waiting arms is nothing short of suicidal, and I'm not ready to jump off the cliff yet.
Then you, my FRiend, are part of the problem. We have laws in America--too many, IMHO--and those who break them need to be brought to Justice. Those whose first act in coming to America is to spit at our legal system deserve no respect whatsoever from law-abiding Americans!!
I'm all for LEGAL immigration to America...new arrivals continue to revitalize this Country and we are blessed to live in a Country where foreign-born folks are so anxious to live within our borders. However, illegal immigrants are Felons first and foremost, and must be hunted down, caught, punished, and sent packing!!
FReegards...MUD
BTW...those who are caught should also be put in the back of the line of those who are attempting to live in this Country via the proper legal channels. You break our laws, you've earned our disrespect!!
IF you prefer anarchy and invasion to American sovereignty and law enforcement, I suggest you hitch a ride the next Euro-Charter to Brussels. There you can cry on the shoulder of one of your One-World brethren.