moe-tif

i won’t tell you how to do your show…but here’s my consejo, for what it’s worth…challenge your listeners to think for themselves…challenge them to get off their butts and get out there and vote…it’s not enough to spark a protest and encourage them to rise up in the streets…we must as a community understand that to effect change, we have to do the whole nine…you are in a priviledged place in that you have a medium to voice your views loud and clear…man, be smart and think outside the box white america has tried to stuff you in…

of the many provisions, some good, some bad, here are two that i consider to be straight up evil….i can’t find another term for it….

-All illegals before deported must pay a fine of $15,000 to the state in which they were apprehended.

-All children born in America from illegal immigrants will become wards of the state.

so, after an individual has worked his ass off for however long…he works 2 or more jobs with no time off…he pays his rent, he buys his groceries, buys his gas, has monies taken from his checks that he will never see, does not hurt anyone…you mean to tell me that now, he’s got to pay $15,000?  oh…so this isn’t just about securing our borders…it’s about raping the poor who come over here so that they may feed their families and in the process have contributed to our economic growth…typical…

and then, you mean that we’re going to rip their children from them and make them wards of the state?  we don’t have enough children growing up without their families, we have to create more?  and what will we do with these children?  place them in families when they’ve got perfectly good families of their own?  well, now, except for families that have same sex parents…it’s been decided by our homophobic government that this doesn’t promote a healthy atmosphere for children…sorry, off the topic i’m starting but, it does point out hypocrisy at it’s finest…we’re so concerned that a child raised in a homosexual parent household will be somehow damaged but, who gives a rat’s ass if the children of illegal immigrants are scarred for life knowing that Mami and Papi are across the border while they’re being brought up by strangers.  please, somebody tell me this is just a helluva typo, that these provisions are not really included in this bill.     

tonite i broke down.  it’s so late, i should be asleep but, i can’t.  i realize, or perhaps i’ve always known but didn’t want to face, that for all my arguments, there are other sides that must be considered too.  know thy enemy, so to speak…bear with me, it’s almost 1 in the morning.  my point is, my passion remains, i am so against this ridiculous law that they are trying to pass…but, something’s got to be done!  my last post quoted statistics…how do we know if those statistics are legit?  as a friend remarked, “numbers are easily skewed in anyone’s favor”.  how do we know really if the good our illegals have brought us, the wealth their presence has lent to this economy…how do we know if it truly does outweight the expense?  who’s holding on to this information and how do they accumulate it so that it is the real deal?  for me, ultimately, it comes down to human rights…that’s my angle…i use statistics because in the face of all the anger against illegals, it feels like i need to have more weight than simple mere emotion…but tonite, i feel like saying screw that.  i am a human being first, a child of God and the rights i have as a human being come from Him, not from another human being.  unfortunately, we live in a world that must be governed by laws, that is immersed with a species that has this intense need to dominate others, to have power and to wield it over everyone.  we live in a world where governments will turn a blind eye when the rules/laws are bent when it is convenient for them.  later, sometimes years later…all of a sudden those very rules that were bent become a platform, the consequences of being lax on the laws becomes an agenda to argue over, debate.  gawwwwwwwwd, this is such a mess! but, for as big a mess it is, it needs to be cleaned up…solutions anyone?  humane solutions?

what i heard on the radio today:

should we build a wall?  most answered yes…me?  NO…what a waste of time…those people are crafty, they’ll find another way

should we extend a worker program?  most answered no…me?  yes, this way they’re not sneaking over here…if they’re already going to come, let’s make it so they come in plain sight, so we can keep a better account of who they are, have them pay us the $1500.00 or more dollars they’d normally pay a coyote and put it towards funding our systems…this way, when someone tries to sneak across, it’s probably because they really do have something to hide.

should we send back those that have been here 10, 20 or more years…law abiding, hard working people?  most answered yes…me?  no, let’s be really careful here.  think about it…up root these people from lives they’ve built here, send them back to Mexico, we not only make ourselves look really, really evil but, we also run the risk of damaging ourselves economically.  we can’t discount the spirituality aspect…imagine the lack of humanity it would take to destroy families?  here’s where i get all karmic on ya…but, there you go…karma ignores no one…i don’t want to mess with that…

Statistics show (to name a few) (thank you Tony Snow, FOX News radio, 620 KTAR):

• Of all the illegals who come across our borders, 5% apply for welfare….that means 95% work. 
• $10 billion dollars in taxes are paid by…yup, you guessed it, monies most will never get back.
• $2.2 billion dollars is the cost of the social services they use.  hmmm, $10 billion vs 2.2 billion….
• 66% of illegals are paying into Social Security.  Do you think they’re ever going to see that money? 
• Our unemployment is at an all time low and our economy is doing well.  In fact, in the U.S. today, a million new jobs a month are created.  What’s this about the illegals taking our jobs?  Really?

Now a bit about my experience:

My father’s father came in on a boat from Hungary, through Ellis Island.  He went through legally and abiding by the rules as they were set forth.  My dad was born on a farm in Ohio.  He is a hard working man, a Vietnam vet, one of the most intelligent people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and someone I’m very proud of.  My mother is from Spain.  She married my father while he was stationed in Spain and a few years later came across with her family to start a whole new life here.  She spoke no English, she really had no friends…her world was my dad and us.  Over the years, she learned the language and did the work to become a citizen of the United States.  I admire her courage and determination, her spitfire personality, her mind and her strength of principle.  I know the pride of being an American citizen, I grew up with it.  I also served in the military and I am very proud to say that.  However…

I have had the privilege of exposure to another world that lived right alongside my own.  I grew up in Arizona with kids whose parents were illegal.  I’ve worked in restaurants right next to illegal immigrants and marveled at their tenacity and ethic…to do a job was great but, to do a job well…that was paramount.  I’ve befriended illegal immigrants and had a relationship with one, a relationship that bore treasures in the form of two little girls.  I’ve been privy to a perspective I doubt many of those against illegal immigration have the foggiest idea exists.  And, guess what…I too am against illegal immigration. 

I think this is a distinction screaming to be made.  Who is for illegal immigration?  Who wants that?  Who supports the crossing of human beings by means of trains that leave many dead or maimed?  Who thinks it’s great to witness people crossing the desert like animals, risking their lives to the elements?  Who is behind the “coyote” who reduces the sacred existence of a human being to nothing more than a barter for passage into a country that doesn’t bear welcome?  Who…tell me, who would back that?  Not I…

No, I do not support illegal immigration, but, neither do I support the criminalization of these people who are bearing the brunt of a corrupt government that cares nothing for them and another that chooses to ignore the very real “good” they’ve given us!  Seems to me, the issue is not that we are “suffering” due to the presence of illegals in our country, the evidence would suggest quite the contrary.  We have lost our focus.  Yes, securing our borders is by far a problem that must be addressed if we are to keep ourselves “safe” (are we really safe?  will we ever be ”safe” again?) from the very real threat of terrorism in the world.  But, we’re going at this issue all wrong.  We aren’t going to solve anything by criminalizing our illegals (is that redundant?), in fact, I believe this “brilliant plan” will only serve to cause enormous strife.  The focus must be brought back to securing the borders and creating a safe, legal means by which these people may enter our country.  They are not the enemy…in fact, if anything, they are a lost people whose government is as corrupt as the day is long.  These people are the by product of a country that is made up of the haves and have-nots.  What’s a have-not to do when there’s a family to support?  GO NORTH!  We must stop trying to dehumanize these people, especially since it’s their sweat and money that apparently has contributed greatly to our economy and well being.  Please, stop turning a blind eye to this truth.  Patriotism is wonderful, but, let’s be authentic here…our great country (yes, the best in the world) is great not just because of the hard working American (of which there are many) but also due to the hard work of the undocumented shadows we can no longer ignore as they bus our tables and fluff our pillows.  

A friend of mine made the statement that this issue of illegal immigration reform is an issue of many layers.  I agree.  Two decades of illegal immigration is no simple walk in the park and the idea that we can simply lay out a blanket law that criminalizes all illegals and those in this country that help them, well….what a lazy way out.  Fact is, above all rules set by man, above all laws put forth…we are all human beings with basic, inaleable rights.  There but for the grace of God go I, so…with this sobering thought in mind, how can I fault a man who crosses over with the dream of something better?  How can I fault a woman who would leave her children behind in the hopes of one day bringing them over for…something better?  How can I judge harshly the woman who sneaks all 6 of her children acrossed with the promise of offering them…something better?  Would I be so different in their shoes?  Were our forefathers?  Oppression is oppression is oppression, whatever the form it takes.  Fundamentally, we are not so different from one another.  HR4437 seeks to separate…and ruin the reputations of an already long suffering group of people.  I agree, something must be done but, without taking the time and putting in the work to peel away the layers, we are doing nothing but sealing the fate of a mass of peoples…the fate being that of an oppressive existence infinitely weighing them down.  There but for the grace of God go I….