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May 06, 2006

My 2 Cents on Immigration

The following is my response to my friend, Michael's blog. Check out his original post here (he's a little tightly wound on the subject and has a conservative point-of-view on the issue of immigration). I'm such a wussy moderate.

My Response:

Wow. Calm down there, my Aussie-born friend and cousin...in...law. :) Post a mega-controversial blog and advertise it, huh? Gutsy. I love the guts! I wish I had the guts to put more controversial-gutsy-political opinions and editorials on my blog, but I learned the hard way that sometimes that's not always the wisest thing for me, so I tend to stick with more "everyone-enjoy-a-laugh" non-confrontational posts. That's just me.

Be aware, first off, that I tend to be a political moderate in most issues, so I am often pretty sympathetic and understanding to different sides of an issue. That may help in understanding where I'm coming from in this "not-all-black-and-white" issue.

Although I agree that immigrants who find themselves within US borders should indeed be working to get their status legalized (and I have great respect for those who have gone through that process like yourself), I think sometimes the process isn't as simple. When I was living in Bartlesville, a major Wal-Mart distribution center was being built between that city and Tulsa, and I'd venture to say that 80+% of those working to build the massive structure were Mexican (many of whom were probably illegal in status). I got to know some of these workers through different ways, and I listened to some of their tragic stories. Many of them had been trying to get their status legalized for years, only to be rejected time and time again. They continued to take the tests and answer the questions, but unless some major educational opportunities arise (which they must have the money to fund - since the government cannot legally pay for them to do it), they will probably never have the opportunity to make this legal. It broke my heart when I found out that many of these people were making far less than minimum wage and were trying to simply provide a better life for their children (many of whom - because of being born in this country - are by birth US-born citizens - which creates a whole other Catch-22 - but I won't dwell on that here).

As Dennis Miller (another beloved Moderate voice out there) once so eloquently put it, "America has always been a haven for people to escape their dysfunctional families."

As you said, the United States of America was founded as a nation full of immigrants - illegal immigrants (or refugees, I should say) until July 4, 1776. Historically, we have many times (obviously not always) opened our arms to those from other lands. We've built a giant "system" of the whole thing: "If you wanna be an American, you gotta fill these forms out, learn THIS language, and take the tests! Oh, and pay Sam, too!" It's a system that is thorough enough that the majority of those who enter it don't slip through the cracks. Sometimes, though, unfortunately, that system becomes incredibly difficult - if not, impossible - for those who have never had the luxury of funds or education.

Being the moderate that I am, however, I also understand from the other side (a different side than you presented, but one you would no doubt agree with) that September 11, 2001 truly changed everything. Not just with terrorists that are Islamic Radicalists, but also with God-knows who on our own soil threatening our politicians, newscasters, and other well-known Americans through Anthrax scares. Suddenly, we don't have the luxury of trusting anyone and everyone who decides to come into this country. I totally get that.

And I guess that's where the "failure" to make a big decision probably comes from. These are all valid points, and there are other ones as well that take different sides and approaches and there are no doubt countless tragedies of those who have been wounded and hurt by our "system." And those are the stories that make this issue so important and heart-breaking...and yet understandable.

But, in the words of Dennis Miller again, "That's just my opinion. I could be wrong."

Technorati Tags: Immigration-Debate, Immigration, Progressive-Politics, Moderate-Politics
 

00:24 Posted in Current Events, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: Politics