Monday, May 01, 2006

My Take on the Immigration Rallies


A spokesman for the group that organized today’s protests rallies is expecting “tens of millions” of marchers today calling for immediate legalization of ALL immigrant that are currently in the our country. I have very mixed feelings on this subject. I was watching the news last night and was puzzled as people that were planning to take part in today’s demonstrations, stocked up on food, gas, and other needed supplies. Doesn’t this kind of defeat the purpose of a boycott? I do agree that our immigration policy needs an overhaul. If it wasn’t so difficult to become a citizen, we wouldn’t have the problems with illegal immigration. I believe that we are a nation of immigrants, so we need to embrace immigrants not condemn them. We also need to secure our borders, and enforce the laws that are currently in our books.

What are your feelings on this issue?

6 comments:

BlackLabelAxe said...

I'd love to rant my ass off about this, but I could never say it as succinctly as Theodore Roosevelt did almost 100 years ago:

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Ranando said...

Fuck Em...

I will never ever again allow any of my companies hire a immigrant of any type.

If your not born here you won't work for me.

Fuck Em...

BlackLabelAxe said...

The way I bring that classic statement into modern times is as follows:

-If you have been through the legal process of immigrating to the US, then nobody should deprive you of any rights that aren't available to natural citizens.

-If you are illegal, then I'm sorry but your disrespect for our immigration laws gives you no footing to demand that our government respect you. As a free people, we should respect illegals as human beings, but the benefits of our government (city, county, state, federal) are reserved for those who have paid for them in taxes, and defended them on the field of battle.

-Don't wave your Mexican, Venezuelan, or Cuban flag at an immigration rally. If you're trying to show how you want to be a part of the US then stop showcasing your other allegiances. In fact, read and re-read TR's quote above until it makes sense. If you still don't get it, then just go back to that country and wave your flag all day.

My take on the politics:

-Our laws suck, and we're not enforcing them. Not enforcing laws shows a lack of leadership, and makes immigrants question the legitimacy of those laws from the second they step foot in our country.

-We need to cut some red tape so that folks can immigrate properly. There is work to be done here for sure, so we need to be able to meet our labor demands with legal workers.

-Remember that if not for immigration, we'd still be living in Teepees hunting buffalo on the plains.

BigNewsDay said...

Even the indians immigrated from another land. So in reality we are ALL either immigrants or products of immigrants.

Ranando, I believe your attitude is a bit extreme here. You've spent too much time on Fred's blog.

Lefty Metalhead said...

As the son of two Mexican immigrants, I have to say that the immigration debate is fucking serious. On the one hand, I would like our borders to be secured and lose their porous state. On the other hand, what must we do with the 12 million undocumented workers in this country? I say we put them on a path to citizenship. They must work, pay their taxes, learn basic English, and adopt the American way of life without compromising their cultural identity. Mexicans have no problem doing this. Just ask my parents, who have both been citizens for quite some time.

We cannot deport all of these people. They are essential to our economy, despite the depreciation of wages. They keep prices lower than they otherwise would be. These people work their asses off and deserve to benefit from just immigration reform.

Ranando, if you seriously feel that way, then I must tell you: give back the southwest to the Mexicans (remember Texas was full of illegal white people for a while) and we'll call it even! As you can see, extremities don't get us anywhere. If companies refuse to hire immigrants, let us watch the prices soar, which will be detrimental to the middle and lower classes!

No amnesty! I don't agree with that. However, a reasonable plan must be made to protect our borders, enforce the law, and stop the exploitation of immigrant labor. No guest worker programs! Since when do we ask our "guests" to clean our bathrooms? All they need is a path to legalization. They want to work for it...is that so bad?

BigNewsDay said...

I agree with you 100% Lefty. Well stated brother!