As I read through the dozens of articles and the various views, my own callous remarks and those of others, I ask myself why I must suffer the consequences of my convictions.
For me, it is to help illegals immigrants speak. Yes, they have a national voice. That particular voice is directed at the politics of their status. They have their own voices too - many used those voices to march for their right to recognition here in the United States.
But, other voices are quieter, not easily heard - and those are the ones I strive to bring forward.
The fact is, I write because there are days when understanding escapes me. Churches abound, their innards filled on Sunday mornings. Still the message is somehow race and status specific. "Love thy neighbor" is actually "Love thy non-Hispanic Legal neighbor."
Our empathetic abilities rarely extend to this group. We see too many, looking at us and speaking in a language we don't understand. They are the majority in some schools and a leading minority in many others. We hear people, black and white, voice their disgust with illegal immigrants, "breathin' our air and takin' up space."
We forget ourselves.
Have you ever noticed how our country is always rescuing others in their time of need? Have you ever noticed how some political administrations are so keen on war and rights and the 'American Way' - and they are praised for upholding our values?
Is it really all a lie? Do the majority of people, cities and states really feel so threatened by immigrants? Is it to the point that they would harm them or prevent others from helping?
I remember the first homeless person I ever saw. I was sixteen years old and it was freezing outside. Everyone walked by, never looking at her - it was as if she didn't exist. My heart broke for her and her obvious mental illness; the tattered clothing and matted hair only made it worse. I didn't care that she was black. I didn't care what language she spoke. She needed something, anything - she needed help.
And I stood there for the longest time - and stared - and did nothing.
And so today, I stand here again - only this time I watch millions of homeless people - people who sit outside in their huddled masses in the freezing cold of my country's political climate.
I stand here for the longest time...years - and I stare - and I write.
I feel the winds of change. I see the local and state governments outlawing illegal immigrants across my home country. Suddenly, the epiphany of the combined news releases hits me...
It will get worse - much, much worse. Where I see hunger, I will soon see starvation. Where I see hope, I will see fear. Where I see success, I will see failure. Where I see fiestas, I will see bolted doors. Where I saw infermity - I will see death. Where my white face was once welcome, I will be dismissed.
And I will stand there for the longest time - and stare - and I will write.
It is all I have to sustain me during this insanity. I can't force people to not treat others like animals. I can't force them to look at the homeless, the broken, the pitiful. I can't force them to understand the "American Dream." I can't convince them that it doesn't matter how we bully, terrify or deny education, food, and shelter - they will persevere. They will suffer for the one thing that brought them here, the "American Dream."
I tell myself it will only last until the elections in 2008. I tell myself to be prepared psychologically....for I am about to see the wrath of the Great America. I am about to witness the mass destruction of lives who have existed on the edge of society for nearly two decades. I am about to see fatherless children and orphans. I am about to witness acts that should never even be whispered in my country.
And I will stand there for the longest time....years maybe - and stare in disbelief- and I will write.
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Comments: 32
FACT: While you claim we shut our doors, you fail to tell readers that we allowed over 900,000 people seeking the American Dream to IMMIGRATE to America LEGALLY last year, and another 900,000 the year before that, and the year before that. The problem is not IMMIGRATION, it is ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
You, and others love to play the GUILT CARD, the RACE CARD, the BIGOT CARD, while ignoring our generosity of spirit, ignoring the millions of upon millions who will come here, have come here over the decades LEGALLY.
As the Pro-Illegal Alien movement FALLS ON ITS FACE, you stare in disbelief, frustrated that you and others like you were found out, your plot for yet ANOTHER AMNESTY was found out. You see Jackie, we BOUGHT INTO THE LIES AND PROMISES back on 1986 when Reagan granted an Amnesty to almost FIVE MILLION ILLEGAL ALIENS, most of them again from Mexico, we believed the promises that it would be the LAST ONE, and that we would see REAL ENFORCEMENT, believed it when we were told there would be STRICT WORK PLACE ENFORCEMENTS. We believed it when we were promised that Guest Worker permits would be LIMITED, and based ON OUR NEEDS, not Mexico's or any other nations wants and desires. None of those promises were kept, none of the LAWS now on the books have been upheld.
Yet, along come people like you all to eager to PLAY THE GUILT CARD, THE RACIST CARD and any other card you can to FOOL US ALL AGAIN. Over ten percent of Mexico's population now resides here in America, with more arrived each and every day, MOST OF THEM HERE ILLEGALLY, but you cry, scream and yell at us to show compassion. Their poor families, their children, their lives....well, what about our lives, our families, our jobs, our wages!
Read the studies....most Americans are no longer better than the generation before them. Our middle class is SHRINKING as more and more AMERICAN FAMILIES drop into poverty. You don't care, OUR PEOPLE ARE NO LONGER IMPORTANT TO YOU, only those illegal immigrants are important to you.
You may not like it, but it is coming down to a point of US or THEM, and if it comes to choosing between taking care of yourself and your family, or seeing your family starve and do without so YOUR PEOPLE can have what you think they deserve, I'll stand up for my own, will lay my life on the line if I have to in protecting what is mine. I am not alone in this passion, and like it or not, the tide has turned in this debate.
The ILLEGALS ARE LOSING, or borders WILL BE SECURED, illegals WILL BE DEPORTED, and in LARGE NUMBERS. You can stand there and do nothing, or you can start working towards helping these ILLEGALS rebuild their own lands, rebuild their own country.
I was raised to believe you help those willing to help themselves. I'd be a lot more tempted to lend a helping hand to a person living in their own homeland asking for a helping hand, than lending a hand to someone who comes into America illegally to steal what is mine. When some 12 million illegal Mexicans accept that reality, when they return to their own land and seek help in making their home something to be proud of, they might be surprised at the difference in our attitudes and in our generousity.
I live in a state where illegals are on every corner in every town. It is bankrupting the state. It is not fair to my ancestors who came here legally and had to live in Brooklyn and learn English... and work multiple jobs and put their kids in a school system that hated them...that there can be millions of people from a foreign country who just sneak in and expect to be accepted. It is a slap in the faces of all of those who have made the sacrifice and have done it with pride and honor.
It is hard to respect people who claim they are not criminals and yet break the law the second they set foot on our soil.
The public school system and health care are totally screwed thanks to these people. My kids will have to speak Spanish instead of French or Italian because of these people....yes-I said "THESE PEOPLE."
They mock our entire system of government by being here. If they came legally-followed rules, paid their dues, paid taxes, and paid for their ER visits-we would not have to cut funding for the arts or music programs in our public schools.
I quit my job as a teacher because I got so sick of having to deal with people who did not speak english and did not want their kids to go to college because they needed to stay home make tortillas and pop out babies like bunny rabbits. I am sick of going to public parks that once had flowers and baseball fields and seeing packs of illegals passed out with beer bottles scattered around them.
I am sick of having to hear mexi-music on every corner and seeing ten people in a 2 door car heckling and whistling at me. I am also sick of seeing these people camping in droves in single-family units, parking their cars on lawns, and then begging for money and jobs in what were once pristine, quiet, lovely neighborhoods.
I am resentful of illegals and NOT legals....and it does matter. If millions of anglo candians showed up illegally I would have the same problem so do not assume I am just a hateful person.
No one wants to feel like someone is stealing from your homeland on a daily basis. It is stealing. It is lying. It is criminal.
Feel sorry for the poor people in the U.S. who cannot care for themselves. Feel sorry for people who come here legally and cannot get a job. Feel sorry for people who try their best and work hard-not those who beg on the street and proliferate ignorance and poverty.
I understand your heart wanting to be kind-but you will have nothing left for yourself if you always give it away.
The simple reason that the illegal immigration problem has gotten so far out of hand is that this government sees no need to curtail the demand side of the equation in anything approaching an equitable fashion. Illegal workers mean less bargaining power for labor. Illegal workers mean a larger profit margin for the corporations.
I mean, honestly. Who would a reasonable person blame--someone who has nothing who comes here looking for a better life or someone who already has everything who's willing to exploit them to get more?
You want to blame someone? Blame the status quo. Blame industry. Blame the politicians who've been willing to look the other way until it became a political wedge issue.
Blaming the people just trying to find a better life for themselves and their families is not the answer.
And, for the record, I'm not a big fan of illegal immigration. I work with several LEGAL immigrants, and know what they themselves have had to go through to get here and stay here.
But let's start placing the blame where it really belongs...on the rich white man who benefits the most from their presence and can pay to influence the politicos to make sure it's profitable for him.
I've worked beside several Mexican immigrants (don't know if they were legal or illegal--wasn't my business to find out) and I know how hard they work.
Far as I'm concerned, this country could do with more of them and fewer self-righteous bigots with delusions of superiority.
I have to say that my feelings about this issue are not based on assumptions. I think you know the ratio of illegals versus legals in the U.S. The scale says millions come illegally and about 875K are legal per year. But at that rate-the America I knew-the good part, will be eradicated very soon. Go ahead....lay into me....I am ready this time.
That, and this administration needs to distract its fans from the real issues.
OK...lets disect all this.
Jackie's job as a recruiter for the Migrant Education Program (which by the way spends HUNDRES OF MILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS) is to identify children/families of migrant workers who qualify for this program. To qualify for this program, you have to be part of a family that INCLUDES ILLEGAL ALIENS. To recruit these families, Jackie, and hundreds, perhaps thousands of recruiters just like her across America are going to schools, visiting the work places where these ILLEGALS ARE EMPLOYED, and visiting them in their ACTUAL HOMES here in America.
Think about this....they RECRUITERS, paid for with our taxes, and our own FEDERAL GOVERNMENT through it's state programs, know the places where MILLIONS of ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE WORKING. Now, that means a DOUBLE SCORE with each location they have the address of....ICE NABS THE WORKERS, and CITES THE EMPLOYER OF THE ILLEGAL....a two for one special, and depending on the number of illegals arrested at these work place raids, tens, if not hundres of thousands of dollars in fines. Now, these RECRUITERS also know where the families LIVE. You show up at the work place, arrest the illegals, then with the list provided from these RECRUITERS in whatever area ICE is working that day, you drive over to the houses and ARREST THE FAMILY MEMBERS.
One recruiters can know literally HUNDREDS of families, perhaps several thousand family members here in America Illegally. They have in their records a list of dozens, even hundreds of employers who are hiring these illegals. In short, we can literally break the back of the companies hiring illegals by forcing these Migrant Education Program recruiters to COME CLEAN, to turn over their application papers for the program, and the list of work sites they use to recruit people into the program.
MORE ON THIS LATER TODAY.....going to contact some news reporters I know. If a reporter reads this, and wants more information, feel free to send me a private message here on Gather....I'll also be posting this on ALIPAC later today.
I recognize that illegal immigration is a problem in the US, however how many want to do the jobs that they do?
At the moment Europe is suffering from the harsh legal rules for immigration we've had for several years, and the unemployment rates is historically low, therefore a lot of jobs are vacant and that will only continue in the future as the smaller generation take over society. However which way we put it, the society can't work if there aren't people enough to fill the vacancies.
Aren't most american (white that is) descendant of european immigrants? And weren't they all seeking the american dream?
I agree that you as a society have to find a way to better control the immigration (ilegal), but don't forget to show a little love of for the next. Regardless of colour!
You obviously do not have a clue....IE, illegals are DEPRESSING the wages of lower class Americans by over TWO HUNDRED BILLION A YEAR. Further, they are no longer just taking those jobs we supposedly DO NOT WANT, they are taking jobs in Construction, hotels, restaurants, every facet of our work force.
But wait: who do you think is going to pay for the massive deportations? The welfare of the legal family fragments that remain here? The children taken over by children's services when their parents are picked up in the raids you recommend? The mental health of the millions of legal family members of those deported? Will there be enough Dr. Phils for all the dysfunctional young people you're planning to create?
You see, you're right about a bunch of things, there's just one bit you're overlooking: we're talking about people here. And people tend to have connections to other people, who have connections to other people and it goes on...
Or do you mean to say that they don't contribute to the american GDP?
Jackie, if somebody broke into your house even though the door ws locked and demanded the right to sleep on your bed, or even sofa, and eat freely from yur refrigerator and take your apirin and cough syrup at will, I am certain you would call the cops about filing B&E charges. Rightly so.
Our national borders are the walls and doors of our national home. B&E there is just as illegal and unacceptable as B&E into your individual house.
Sure, I might have a better life if I broke into your house. Maybe your house is bigger and more comfortable and you can afford fancier food. But I will live with what is mine and respect that your is yours.
Same goes for the international B&Eers who storm our national borders.
I want the cops to treat them the same way they would treat any who broke their way into my own house.
The program Jackie is employed under has grown from a small little program in the late 60's to a current yearly budget of $350 MILLION dollars. All that money supporting illegals. After doing some searching, I am not of the belief that the United States Department of Education if FUNNELING well in excess of a HALF A BILLION DOLLARS a year to programs benefitting only ILLEGAL ALIENS. Other areas of our federal government have hidden programs as well targeted at illegals, in short payouts from our TAX DOLLARS to subsidize and make acceptable CHEAP WAGES. Though my research has just started, I now believe there are several BILLION DOLLARS of hidden funding for illegals in our federal government.
Today, I spent a great deal of my time on the phone with the United States Department of Education, eventually being successful in speaking with Edgar Mayes, a member of Margaret Spellings staff. Late this afternoon, I formally filed a Whistle Blower letter of complaint on the MEP program with Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. I was also successful in bringing some of these hidden pork barrel earmarks for ILLEGAL ALIENS to the attention of members of the press.
Why do you continually tell us it is OUR responsibility to provide these people with the better life they seek.
They are Mexican Nationals, AND they are here illegally. Take your crusade to Mexico, and turn the responsibility over to the people that it belongs to, the MEXICAN Govt.
The US has sent millions of dollars to Mexico, and Mexico has sent millions of its people to the US, to bleed more American dollars for their country.
Instead of writing here to continually tell us how horrible we are for not providing these people with the American Dream, go to Mexico and write to find out why the Drug lords live like kings, the Mexican Govt. protects them, and why they are sending their responsibility to us. Go to Mexico (I'm sure your govt job will pay for the trip for you) and find out where the money we've already sent down to bail them out, was spent.
Americans are very generous and we help the poor all over the world, but they are not coming here ILLEGALLY making demands for more, and they do NOT have an attitude of entitlement that these people have. If they trully wanted the AMERICAN DREAM, they would be willing to come here legally, pay their dues, and SPEAK ENGLISH!! They would not act like we owe it to them, and they would not expect to be GIVEN what every AMERICAN has to work for.
If you travel to these camps, then I am sure you have also traveled through the bayous and hills of the poor south. Before our money is spent on "your" illegals, it must be spent to assist OUR POOR in obtaining the American Dream that is their birthright.
I read in your articles of a human condition, a human plight and the effects we have on immigrants and they have on us.
I learn from your articles. I do not read in your work, written or vocation, a desire to bring people to the US illegally. Only to help them survive HUMAN injustice once they are here.
I am not going to participate in a debate on the rights, laws or politics of immigration any further with my fellow commentors of your writing.
I will dicuss what it is I value in your work and words. You are an effective writer and a person with a strong heart and convictions.
I support you as a writer and as a person. I will miss your input about your life and the lives of the people you write about if you discontinue sharing it. Though I can appreciate why you would want to discontinue.
That would be a shame for your detractors also. By that I mean that your strong convictions are not going to be disuaded from your work through their voices. You will only no longer share with us what it is that you are up to.
Or, we could just have a drink and make fun of city folks...
GOOD. We need to send our economy in a dive. The Republicans are legendary for flawed accounting....LOL....and the Dems, thank GOD are legendary for putting it all back together again.
You want to applaud ICE - good - applaud them and then pull out that checkbook because when ICE deports a few more here and there, they'll all go underground. And when that happens - hopefully by Thanksgiving - we'll be bemoaning the cost and/or lack of turkeys.
ROFL.....This may cause suffering - NO - It will cause suffering - but when it backfires - even illegal immigrants will agree - IT WAS WORTH EVERY MOMENT.