I know I have blogged about the immigration issue in the past, but some things have occurred to me that I didn't include then.
One: Some people are trying to make this an issue of racism. For some people, maybe it is. I personally have found Latinos to be some of the kindest and most considerate people I've known. Furthermore, I don't really understand the White Vs. Hispanic issue anyway. Last time I checked, 'White' meant of European descent, and 'Hispanic' meant of Spanish descent. Unless it's moved, Spain is still part of Europe. Now I will admit that I have known some Latinos that didn't seem white to me, but most of them do, so what's the big deal? Besides, it's not as though all of the illegal immigrants are Latinos. That does seem to be the face that's been put on it, though...
Two: It seems to me that the major political parties have this issue backwards. For the most part, big business supports the Republican party; big business likes cheap labor, so why is it that, for the most part (President Bush is bucking his own party on this issue), the Republicans are the ones fighting illegal immigration? On the other hand, Unions generally support the Democratic party, organized labor doesn't like illegal aliens taking jobs from Americans, so why is it that the DNC is pushing for amnesty? The only reason I can think of is that minorities generally vote Democratic; that would explain both sides of the issue (but that's just a guess, and it still involves both parties risking alienating their respective power base).
Three: I've heard a certain amount of talk about making new laws to prevent illegal immigration. We aren't doing a good job of enforcing the laws that we have. Do we really want to pass a bunch of new laws for various government agencies to ignore?
Four: Some people seem to think that deporting 12,000,000 illegals is a lot of work and that it isn't realistic to think that we will ever do it. It is a lot of work, and, we're probably going to end up deporting more people than that, because some of those people have family members that are legal, but that can't, or won't, stay in the US without their spouse/parent (whatever the relationship is between the legal family member and the undocumented family member. How would we go about this? Let me ask you this: How do you go about eating an elephant? The answer is: A little bit at a time. If we deport 1,000 this month, then that sends a clear message to the remaining illegals. Some of them may go home on their own--more likely, they will dig in and try to be as unobtrusive as possible. I'm okay with that. An illegal alien who's afraid to show his face in public is almost as good as one who isn't here illegally anymore.
Five: Shouldn't we just let them stay? On a case by case basis, if some have got compelling reasons to be here, maybe so. But I think that, all else being equal, a foreign national who applies for a visa to come to the United States from his/her country of origin should be given preference over one who entered this country illegally and then tried to get a visa to stay.
Six: One of the rumors that just won't die is that all an illegal alien has to do is get married to someone who is US citizen, and then, poof! they're legal. Nope, it is waaaay more complicated than that. Our government still wants to do a background check on the foreign national (just because you fell in love with a convicted felon doesn't mean we're going to let them stay here), and make sure that his is not a 'marriage of convenience,' i.e., the US citizen wasn't duped (or bribed) into marrying someone just so they could get citizenship.
One: Some people are trying to make this an issue of racism. For some people, maybe it is. I personally have found Latinos to be some of the kindest and most considerate people I've known. Furthermore, I don't really understand the White Vs. Hispanic issue anyway. Last time I checked, 'White' meant of European descent, and 'Hispanic' meant of Spanish descent. Unless it's moved, Spain is still part of Europe. Now I will admit that I have known some Latinos that didn't seem white to me, but most of them do, so what's the big deal? Besides, it's not as though all of the illegal immigrants are Latinos. That does seem to be the face that's been put on it, though...
Two: It seems to me that the major political parties have this issue backwards. For the most part, big business supports the Republican party; big business likes cheap labor, so why is it that, for the most part (President Bush is bucking his own party on this issue), the Republicans are the ones fighting illegal immigration? On the other hand, Unions generally support the Democratic party, organized labor doesn't like illegal aliens taking jobs from Americans, so why is it that the DNC is pushing for amnesty? The only reason I can think of is that minorities generally vote Democratic; that would explain both sides of the issue (but that's just a guess, and it still involves both parties risking alienating their respective power base).
Three: I've heard a certain amount of talk about making new laws to prevent illegal immigration. We aren't doing a good job of enforcing the laws that we have. Do we really want to pass a bunch of new laws for various government agencies to ignore?
Four: Some people seem to think that deporting 12,000,000 illegals is a lot of work and that it isn't realistic to think that we will ever do it. It is a lot of work, and, we're probably going to end up deporting more people than that, because some of those people have family members that are legal, but that can't, or won't, stay in the US without their spouse/parent (whatever the relationship is between the legal family member and the undocumented family member. How would we go about this? Let me ask you this: How do you go about eating an elephant? The answer is: A little bit at a time. If we deport 1,000 this month, then that sends a clear message to the remaining illegals. Some of them may go home on their own--more likely, they will dig in and try to be as unobtrusive as possible. I'm okay with that. An illegal alien who's afraid to show his face in public is almost as good as one who isn't here illegally anymore.
Five: Shouldn't we just let them stay? On a case by case basis, if some have got compelling reasons to be here, maybe so. But I think that, all else being equal, a foreign national who applies for a visa to come to the United States from his/her country of origin should be given preference over one who entered this country illegally and then tried to get a visa to stay.
Six: One of the rumors that just won't die is that all an illegal alien has to do is get married to someone who is US citizen, and then, poof! they're legal. Nope, it is waaaay more complicated than that. Our government still wants to do a background check on the foreign national (just because you fell in love with a convicted felon doesn't mean we're going to let them stay here), and make sure that his is not a 'marriage of convenience,' i.e., the US citizen wasn't duped (or bribed) into marrying someone just so they could get citizenship.
Seven: One of the accusations that I've heard hurled is that we are "against immigration." I haven't lost site of the fact that I am descended from immigrants. I can fully understand that a lot of Native Americans would consider all of the rest of us 'Boat People.' Rumor has it that the Chief of the Apache tribe once wrote a letter to president Lyndon Johnson saying, in part, "Be careful with your immigration policies. We were careless with ours." Good point. As far as I know, I don't have any Native American blood in me, so basically, I'm an immigrant, too; but I'm here legally. And as far as the claims that the Mexicans coming into this country are the indigenous people of this continent, and they're just taking it back, how many of them do you think are part Cheyenne, or Apache, or Shawnee, or Pawnee, or Sioux, or Iroquois, or Illiniwek, or Cherokee, or Yuma? No, they are mostly Aztec--indigenous to Mexico. And, not all of the illegals are Mexicans.
I understand that sometimes there are extenuating circumstances. What if a person comes here on a student visa, and then gets a job to help pay tuition, and after graduation, the job turns into very lucrative full-time employment, but the state department turns down the request for a work visa? or falls in love with a classmate and can't bear to part with that individual, but, again, can't get a work visa after graduation. I know that there are people like that, and I understand. That's something that has to be considered on a case by case basis. 12,000,000 cases to be considered individually? are you mad? no, I'm patient. Grab a fork--your elephant's getting cold.
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Rodrigo posted this comment in Portuguese, but, I ran this through an on-line translator, and he, apparently, is saying that he finds my blog interesting, and that he thinks my readers might like custom-made T-shirts. He has included a link to his blog (camisetas personalizada), which, in turn, has links to an on-line T-shirt website, in case any of you are interested. I'm not sure if he is an immigrant...
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