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Gut Check Time on Immigration

by Man Eegee rcs1
Sun Mar 26, 2006 at 11:51:30 AM EST

initially posted 3-25 2:20 EST

After lurking at several liberal political blogs over the past few years, I quickly realized that the issue of immigration reform was one of those taboo subjects that rarely got any attention. Diaries on the subject were sure to either disappear into the ignored/unmentioned ether or ignite into a massive flame-war until both sides finally threw up their arms in disgust and walked away to other pressing topics.

When Booman Tribune opened up for business in March 2005, I jumped right into the fray and decided that I would try to focus my attention on a humane and just viewpoint on immigration reform. My first big diary, The Immigration Crisis, was so well-received, that I did a follow-up to it a month later when Jon Kyl and John Cornyn released S.1438, a hard-lined answer to the bipartisan bill offered by John McCain and Ted Kennedy.

Now, eight months later, the immigration storm clouds have finally gathered enough strength to draw the lines in the desert sand and force the American public decide where they stand, and more importantly why.

continued below the fold...


commentary :: :: :: buzz-it!
Through a well-organized and concerted effort by human rights groups that serve the Latino population in the United States, rallies and marches have been staged in cities all across America, demanding an end to the hate-mongering string of bills that have been working their way through the Republican-led Congress.

Will the liberal left join bigot-filled groups like the Minutemen and American Patrol in reacting negatively to these powerful demonstrations of democracy? Will you join your voices with the likes of these commenters at the Arizona Republic's Blogizona?:

Comment from: jeanne7272 - 03/24/06 @ 15:50
Not just no, BUT HELL NO! We have existing immigration laws in this country which have been totally ignored and now we have hundreds of thousands of ILLEGALS waving the MEXICAN flag and protesting on AMERICAN SOIL? This is just wrong, these people are law breakers and ICE should be there hauling their butts right back to Mexico and dropping them off at Vicente Fox's front door! AMERICANS, we can't let ILLEGALS dictate our border policies to us! They don't have the right to be here in the first place! I am afraid these protesters are going to start a HUGE mess in this country! TAKE YOUR MEXICAN FLAG AND FLY IT IN MEXICO WHERE IT BELONGS, NOT ON U.S. PROPERTY!
Comment from:  Jaime3766 - 03/24/06 @ 18:29
And what about crime here in Arizona? Ever notice that most crimes we hear about here are committed by someone with a Hispanic last name? Don't tell me that crime levels wouldn't drop if illegals weren't sent back to Mexico.
You see, in a black-and-white world for people like Jaime3766, any person with a Hispanic last name is 1) automatically illegal and 2) a criminal. As someone who is neither of those two and also blessed with a Hispanic surname, you can see why I would take exception to her calls for expulsion and blatant xenophobia.

American exceptionalism is driving the adverse reactions to the images that have been played out in cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, Trenton, Washington, D.C., Knoxville, Milwaukee, Tucson, Phoenix, Denver, Atlanta, San Francisco, Kansas City (KS), Columbus, New York City, Houston, and Los Angeles.

To be perfectly honest, it reminds me of reading stories of slaves owners in the civil war era who were offended and appalled that the slaves would dare demand some semblance of dignity. "How dare they? Who do they think they are?"

The echo in my ears from one of the gritos at today's Tucson rally provides an answer:

¡No Somos Enemigos, Somos Tus Amigos!
We are not enemies, we are your friends.

Indeed.

I implore the left and moderate ends of the political spectrum in the United States to consider the humanity of these people who are merely asking for a chance to ensure the survival and prosperity of their families. The debate on immigration has been dominated by bigots like James Sensenbrenner, Russell Pearce and Chris Simcox. It is now time to let the targets of their ire have their say, and clue-in the American public on the reasons they have risked their lives and livelihood to come to the United States.

One of the signs at today's rally was very simple, and was held by the hands of young girl who was no more than ten years old: "I want to be a doctor."

Will you respond to her as an American exceptionalist and deny her a path to succeed or as a human being who recognizes that we all have have a right to follow our dreams?

It's gut-check time, my friends.  There are no borders when it comes to love.

Crossposted from my humble blog

Display:
Gut Check Time on Immigration | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 hidden)
Working to Restore the Promise: (5.00 / 1) (#1)
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."


by Man Eegee on Sat Mar 25, 2006 at 02:24:11 AM EST
Living in Texas...imigration is up front & (none / 0) (#2)
in our faces.  I liken the state we are in right now to this. We have a problem..........it has been festering for a long long time.  It's like a child that has been ignored, shoved aside..placated when it whines...and then bang it's grown up...we have created our own monster.  What do you do?  We own it!

It bothers me a whole lot.... I've been in TX since 1981.  I quit going to certain grocery stores after I was literally shoved aside by a woman who then ripped open disposable diaper packages looking for the size she needed..small, medium, large..she couldn't read...  I learned that if you get in line behind hispanic looking people..they pay in cash...and you get thru the line quicker!  I have seen a man riding his bike who was totally exhausted and sweating..my heart broke for him.  On a cold winter day, an hispanic man was sleeping in a shed where dog food was kept..he was shooed away..afraid he'd steal or worse when owners asleep(my son & girlfriend).  There is so much more I can tell you.....10 men living in a 1 bedroom duplex...and duplex owners taking their money, saying nothing...it's endless, I could go on and on.  

First and foremost we must consider poverty...everyone is in the same boat in your neighborhood..what do you do to escape it?  Well hell, that's all of Central America...... Whatever happened to "Share the Wealth"....I wonder cause now our neighbors are knocking at our doors asking for food, jobs, medical, housing...and if we don't give it to them they will take it!  Well, they are now taking it....what's next?  Cause my friend, pretty soon we are all going to be in the same boat...jobs, food, medical, housing..and forget about retirement/social security.  Is that selfish when a person works their whole life...spilled blood for their country, repeatedly...to watch it all vaporize....  Maybe we should all retire in Mexico/Central America and let them have the USA... or better still takeover their oil empire..what the hell, Mexicans are docile people right.

by avahome on Sat Mar 25, 2006 at 01:26:29 PM EST

I must be the biggest Pollyanna around (none / 0) (#3)
I've never "gotten" the immigrant problem, or better yet, understood why some people think it IS a problem.  Sure, it would be a good thing to know who is within our borders from a security basis.  I wouldn't want murderers let in or anything.  But what IS the big deal.  Why can't we have guest workers, why can't we have seasonal workers, why can't we have contributing migrants?

I have no problem with kids going to our schools while their parents work, and work they do!

I learned something watching the sheep shearer crews a long time back. 1.  They were heads down focused on their task 2) They took pride in doing a great job 3) they were happy doing what they were doing and 4) no one else would do that job, much less had the skillset.  They couldn't speak English, Dad couldn't speak whatever Mexican dialect they were speaking.  I hadn't a clue.  I just know that their foreman spoke ENglish, understood the task and they did it.  Dad paid them well too.  They had "production" incentives and they nailed those incentives but good.

The roofers who put on my roof after the bad storm in September and the painters who painted my house were fabulous.  Courteous, smiling, willing, on-time.  What the heck is the big deal?  Do I know if they were legal?  Haven't a clue.  Did it matter to me?  Nope.  Not a whit.  Did I feel endangered?  No, not at all.

So I guess Homeland Security will never hire me because I don't get why we have a problem here at all.  If they can show ID, are crime free, why can't we let them in at the border over regular routes?  Maybe one more qualification - be able to demonstrate that they have a job waiting and are fairly self-sufficient?  Might that work?

I'm probably demonstrating a total lack of grasp for the issue.  Educate me!

by kfred on Sat Mar 25, 2006 at 06:09:57 PM EST

Hi kfred (5.00 / 1) (#5)
sorry for the delayed response, I was away from the computer over the weekend.  There is a problem, but it's identified differently for various groups.  Some see it as a homeland security issue and want the U.S. walled-off, others see it as an economic issue with driven-down wages and schools being saddled with children, others see it as a law-enforcement issue, for another it's a human rights issue.  Very complex.

As it relates to the Congress and politics in an election year, the House passed a draconian bill in December sponsored by James Sensenbrenner (HR4437), which has spurned the nationwide protests.  Duke1676 has written about it extensively at Migra Matters.  I encourage everyone to check out the depth of his series.

Tonight at midnight is the deadline for the Senate Judiciary committee to hammer out an agreement to send to the full floor where Frist has scheduled two weeks of debate.

There are four major bills in competition.  The bipartisan Kennedy/McCain proposal, hardlined Kyl/Cornyn bill, Specter's "guest worker" program, and Bill Frist's targeting of employers.

Lots of info to digest, but I have a feeling it is going to be used as the battleground issue this fall.  We shall see!

by Man Eegee on Mon Mar 27, 2006 at 12:20:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Manny! (5.00 / 1) (#6)
Thanks for the links on the bills, good information.

by Cho on Mon Mar 27, 2006 at 12:38:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Here are some answers (none / 0) (#4)
Maybe this might answer some of your questions.

Regarding security.

The current thought right now is that under  the current immigration laws and procedures, the policy has opened the doors for immigrants who feel that crime is their avenue to the "American dream" This was done back in the 1990s with John Tanton and Wayne Lutton.

One type of program that has worked in the past.

f I had a choice, I would build more settlement houses like Jane Adamms' Hull House - "To provide a center for higher civic and social life; to institute and maintain educational and philanthropic enterprises, and to investigate and improve the conditions in the industrial districts of Chicago." -Jane Addams

Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Mar 25, 2006 at 09:54:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Gut Check Time on Immigration | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 hidden)

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