back at you Octavio

Submitted by Sidda (United States), May 30, 2006 at 10:57

Octavio, I do think we are on the same page on this issue. I have myself compared the immigration issue in Europe with that of the US. Yes, there are different aspects to both of those situations, but they are the same in the aspects that you mentioned; namely, the support for unfettered immigration in the media and amongst the elites, and in the way the governments seem to ignore the will of the people. Add to that the fact that the Mexican government WANTS their people to come here and encourages it. Mexicans working in the US send back $20 billion to the Mexican economy each year. So, the failure of the Mexican government to implement reforms to their system, and the desire by American business for cheap labor are the root causes of the problem we are having. We are trying to deal with the symptoms, but not the root cause. Realistically, I don't know what we can do to force Mexico to get their act together. But, maybe if they did not have the US as their "safety valve" the people would demand reforms. I just don't know.

It is so frustrating when all we want is an orderly immigration system whereby we can determine who comes into the US and what they are doing (and where they are) when they are here. If we cannot control who comes here, there are many negative consequences. In the US, there is the possibility of terrorists coming across the border (although this applies not only to the Southern border, but also to the Northern border with Canada), all the drug trafficking, criminal gangs, etc. Yes, most illegals only want to come to work, but a certain percentage have less than noble intentions.

It is also frustrating to be called all kinds of names because you believe that your country, as a sovereign nation, has the right to insist on legal, orderly immigration policies and that people who wish to immigrate to your country follow these policies. I will admit that in the case of the US, our immigration system is very cumbersome. Now, I don't think it should be a cake walk to come to the US, but I don't think having a system where it is virtually impossible to come (having to wait YEARS AND YEARS), exactly encourages people to take the legal route. But now the average American who just wants their country's laws and sovereignty respected (and language and culture) are called "nativists, bigots, racists, xenophobes, right wing extremists. Right wing extremist!! That is so far off the mark in my case, and in most peoples'. Well, we know by now that those charges are meant to intimidate us and any politician who speaks out against open borders.

I will say that at least in the US now we are having an open debate about this issue. I watch C-Span when these debates are taking place, and the frankness with which it is being discussed is impressive. Even though the media is overwhelmingly in support of open borders, and often misrepresents the issue in their reporting by referring to the issue as "immigrant rights"--not calling them what they are which are ILLEGAL immigrants who broke the law to come here--we still forge ahead. I would say that is at least one difference between Europe and the US; Europeans, as I understand it, are reluctant to even speak about the issue. Here we are screaming it from the rooftops and nobody can shut us up! The Minutemen are down on the border right now building their own fence on private property where illegals come through using privately donated funds. Would Europeans be inclined to have such a group? I don't know.

The Senate passed a bill last week which was not at all impressive--not much in the way of border security. It is imperative that we stop the hordes from coming before we grant any pathway to legalization for those who are already here or we will just end up in the same situation we found ourselves in after the last amnesty was granted 20 years ago. The Senate bill will go to conference with the House in June. The House is very opposed to anything which does not include strict border control; a lot of the House representatives are up for reelection and so they are more inclined to follow the will of their constituents. So, we will see if a compromise can be reached. I hope that whatever they come up with will contain strict border control, making it clear to the immigrants that they must speak English and assimilate into our culture. If this doesn't happen, we might all be dancing around hats before too long! (I guess I am being xenophobic now)

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