WooHoo!! I looooved this Immigrant Strike thing. Man! They should do this every day! There was no traffic on the roads, very few people just loitering around on the street corners, no big crowds in the stores…. I had a great day!
I had to go to the County Clerk’s office and it was so much less crowded than the last time I went, even though there were a few people there working with an interpreter (gotta say I was proud of them to come out and do business today). I don’t know why, but it seems immigrants congregate at county offices… what’s that about?? Traffic on the freeways was non-existent and the stores I went to were pleasantly uncrowded and easy to shop at. I have to say — even though it’s very incredibly politically incorrect — I’d be ever so happy if all the immigrants that stayed home today never came back in.
Yes, I know. I’m soooo politically off my rocker. But ya know what? Don’t. Care. I’m quite tired of people who come here illegally — hence the phrase illegal aliens — demanding rights like they were full-fledged citizens, yet they got here, and stay here, illegally.
And before you go all Hillary on me, one of my dearest friends is the daughter of an immigrant, who divorced his wife and now works in LA and then drives back into Mexico using US-earned — but NOT taxed — dollars to support his family in Mexico. I have dozens of friends who are first or second generation Americans — ABC’s, Latinas, Filipinos, Japanese, Korean, Lebanese…. The thing is, every one of my friends’ parents entered legally. And most of my friends are just as angry over the illegal aliens issue as I am.
I’m a descendant of a Welsh immigrant who moved to Virginia in the mid-1600s, and mixed with a little of the Crockett family (immigrants from France by way of Ireland; cousins of Davy) and some Choctaw Native Americans, not to mention a doctor who fought alongside General George Washington at Valley Forge. I am fully aware that America is made up of immigrants. We are the light in the harbor, shining brightly in the night, promising a better life for all who seek it. And the coolest thing is, for those willing to work their butts of, America comes through on all her promises.
This is a country made up of immigrants. We pushed the natives of this
land into small sections of land. The rest of us, for better or worse,
are squatters; immigrants who gave up our languages and adjusted our cultures to create a new, uniquely American culture, an amalgam of every culture to ever touch our people.
I guess that’s what bothers me the most in the latest illegal immigrant-lovefest I see before us. There’s a sense, at least to me, of ultra-nationalism (is that a real term??) I sense that their country is better than America and they’d rather sing the praises of home than embrace and impact the uniqueness of America — though they’re seem very quick to embrace our money, sans taxes, of course. I mean, a Spanish version of the U.S. National Anthem???
No. This is not Mexico. Nor is this Cyprus, where the Greek Cypriots
are prouder of their Greek heritage than their own Cypriot nation. We
are AMERICA. If you want our money and our jobs, learn our language and
sing our national anthem the way it was written: in English.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for language integration in schools and easing non-English speakers into our language. I understand the incredible
difficulty of learning a second language — believe me, I’ve tried! It
ain’t easy.
But come on. If you’re going to enjoy the benefits of our country, embrace our culture. If you can’t, then don’t partake of the bounty of America.
Then there’s the economic and legal issues. I realize that most of these folks are trying to earn enough money to live and to support their families back home. But. There are laws. They are there for a reason. And they are already there. Hence the term illegal aliens. The way they got here is against the law. Why are we not enforcing the laws currently on the books? Why do we need more laws??
And now there’s talk of reward illegal aliens with a "legal" status?? For breaking the law?? And what of all those waiting patiently for 7, 8, even 10 or more years to come here legally? What are we telling them if we reward those who circumvented the system? It doesn’t pay to follow the law in America?
What’s more: what are we teaching our children? The youth and kids who are watching what we do? Do we really want to send them the message that its okay to break the law, because eventually Congress will reward you and give you "legal" status for your illegal actions??
Honestly, is that what we want to tell them?
Yes, I understand full well that many immigrants work jobs that no American would touch. As a resident of LA I knew full well that many of the great fruit, veggies and other such wonders of life were provided me at low cost on the backs of illegal aliens being paid ridiculously demeaning wages. I have lots of thoughts on that. All conflicting. On the one hand, are we so jaded and spoiled here in America that we would rather take handouts from the government (welfare) than earn a day’s wage picking strawberries for less than minimum wage? On the other hand, insist employers pay minimum wage for these jobs, are we willing to pay more at the grocery store for our strawberries? They’re pretty dang expensive here in Nashville as it is (it seems all fruits and veggies cost less in LA — why is that??).
There is no easy, pain-free solution to this problem. Even if we were to "legalize" the illegals, they would now by default be in that bracket/category of workers whose day wages are too expensive for those who hire illegal immigrants in the first place. Which just creates a new conundrum: do we put up with the higher prices the legalization brought upon us, or do we look the other way as a whole new wave of illegal immigrants floods our land to work the jobs no one else will work?
But its not just the "fault" of the immigrants. They wouldn’t come if there wasn’t work to be had. And there wouldn’t be work to be had if employers would follow the law when it comes to hiring and paying employees.
It all comes back to this: why have immigration laws on the books if we are not going to enforce them?
It does no good to legalize illegal aliens if the employers aren’t going to change their practices of hiring illegals to get away with not withholding taxes/medicare/social security and not paying fair wages for a day’s work. The now-legal aliens will seek out jobs their legal status now qualifies them for, leaving their old jobs open and waiting for those with no other option but to work for less than legal wages.
Nor does it do any good to strengthen borders and roundup and deport illegal aliens in America as long as employers get away with their illegal activity and are not forced to comply with existing labor laws through raids, exorbitant fines and even jail time for executives/hiring managers.
Of course, we could always go with Ji
mmy Kimmel’s advice: let Angelina Jolie adopt them all. Then they’d just be one big happy disfunctional family.
Forgive me. I’m very tired. It’s late. And this has been an exhausting emotional rant. I’ll kick the soapbox out from under myself now and go to bed.
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