Immigration and illegal aliens in this country. In case you are oblivious to the matter, it has become the hot-button topic of the moment and one that will surely become a focal point for this year's elections. I've followed the issue, read the papers, listened to the TV pundits, and read fellow bloggers posts about this problem. What is the problem? How do we identity it correctly? How do we solve it? If only I was knowledgeable and well-spoken enough to talk about this issue in the manner it deserves.
You know, I get the anti-immigrant people in a way. I used to think like they do. Back in high school I thought, "Why should these people, these Mexicans, be allowed to just walk into my country and steal our rightful jobs and mess up our society and culture?" I was young and I thought I knew everything and my thinking was influenced by not a little prejudice, I'm now embarrassed to admit. Then my bubble was burst.
Since the age of 16 when I began working, I've encountered Mexicans, Hondurans, Salvadorians, Guatemalans, and Peruvians. I've become good friends with Colombians and I've dated a girl from Brazil. When I got to college, I declared my major as history. Because of class openings, my focus inadvertently became Latin and South American history with an importance on colonialism. I learned basic Spanish from three Mexican co-workers who I became friendly with. Through all of these experiences, I gained and I learned. Learned about the cultures and the histories and the language. But most of all, I learned about the people.
These are good people. They want to work, to live their lives, and most importantly to provide for their families and give their children opportunities they didn't have themselves. Sounds eerily familiar doesn't it? It's the American Dream. Who said it was only available for us in the US? It needs to be less the United States of America and more the United Nations of the Americas. The people that are going to have the biggest impact on this country's future are the ones who already share our hemisphere, not the Europeans, Asians, or Middle Easterners. We need to work on some solidarity. Some people may argue that these people don't belong in our country or maybe aren't ardent Americans. I would strongly argue against this.
Now, I'm not a student of economics but it is pretty clear to see that purging illegal Hispanics from our country is not going to be good for the national economy (And I do mean Hispanics, because this is what it really is about; no one is even thinking about the countless Chinese who die and sell themselves into slavery to get into this country). The problem is not these immigrants stealing our jobs. These are mostly agricultural and service industry jobs that Americans deem beneath them anyway. These people should be applauded for undertaking labor that snobs in this country never would. Why work your ass off in the field or cleaning up toilets when you can collect a welfare check or sell meth out of your garage? The major problem is that American companies are shipping out manufacturing jobs south of the border for pennies an hour. People can't survive at these wages in their own country, so they come here. Sounds like a good idea to me; if I was in that situation I would probably jump the fence too.
We've actually been discussing this issue in my RCIA class for the past two weeks. We're stressing not only the importance of the sacraments, but the role Catholics should play in helping to reverse this endless cycle of manipulation and poverty (and here I thought the Church's purpose was to oppress and divide people; religion sure is a terrible thing). What is really terrible is what provisions are included in the US House and GA State legislature bills. Because of high Hispanic populations many Catholic Churches in Georgia offer Masses conducted completely in Spanish. In addition, many offer English classes, free of charge, to Hispanic families trying to better get by in our American communities. St. Joseph's of Athens is one such Church to do so. Did you know our lawmakers are trying to make it so criminal charges, felonies no less, may be levied against any and all providing aid of any sort to illegal immigrants? I personally know nuns who are dedicating their lives to helping poor Mexican immigrants simply survive. Must these sisters risk being thrown in state or federal prison because of this? Does anyone else see the ridiculousness of this situation?
Another great idea is the proposed fence to be built on the US-Mexican border. I'm all for enforcement of the border to better national security. Heck, more border agents means more jobs for people in the towns of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. I'm all for that. But a wall? Seems like America used to be against walls. I thought we helped pressure the Soviet Union to tear down a rather infamous one in Germany. What's great about this is that the wall the government wants to build is 700 miles long. The border we share with Mexico is 2,000 miles long. Pure genius. What they don't want to tell you is that they are hoping that illegals get lost or even die in the endless stretches of desert and harsh terrain that makes up the remaining length. Hey, the more dead Mexicans there are, the less can come over. Sounds pretty cruel and unusual to me.
And what is more un-American than denying basic human rights to people in this country, illegal immigrant or not? Unless, perhaps Georgia and US politicians don't believe that health care and education are inherently humanitarian. I can't think of a better way to push Mexican illegals into gangs and crime than to deny them an education. For God's sakes, let these people better themselves and pull themselves out of a bad situation! Don't punish hard-working fathers and mothers by charging them with felonies and sending them to prison. Jail overcrowding is already a big issue and you want to make it worse by punishing people who want nothing more than to give themselves a little hard-earned dignity!? Am I the only person in this crazy country who is sane, who can look past the xenophobia? It literally is bringing me to tears to think that no one in this Goddamn nation can take a fucking look at their own plushy middle-class situation and look past it into our history, to their own ancestors who bled and sweat and built this land of freedom and liberty so that their descendants would not have to be persecuted like how we are persecuting these immigrants. Whether it's Catholics, Irish, Italians, Jews, Poles, or whoever is currently coming in, this attitude always seems to rear its ugly head and try to promote racism and division. GET OVER IT!!! Yes, these immigrants should be brought over legally and should be paying taxes to support this great society, but there has to be a better way to accomplish this than just saying, "GET OUT AND STAY OUT!" If you are going to support one of these bills, than please support the one approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. And if you are still confused, than just ask yourself this question:
"Do I really want to ask them to leave?"
