People like Adam see the world the way they think it ought to be
It continues to amaze me how people treat the world as they think it SHOULD BE as opposed to HOW IT IS. "The only way to stop illegal immigration is to stop making immigration illegal" Adam said. What a quaint statement, how rich. I suppose you will want to legalize drugs next followed by a puppy in every child's arms. Why, cause every child ought to have one.
The issue is, if you pass laws, you should enforce them. Lack of immigration enforcement is why we are having this discussion. Politicians (of both parties) make big "get-tough on illegal immigration" statements and then do nothing. They get their sound bite and move along. Immigration has become another "third rail" like health reform, everyone in politics complains about it but does nothing. This is not a Bush problem nor a Clinton problem. It has been mismanaged for DECADES. Reagan's amnesty plan did nothing, look at us today talking about doing it again. Nothing changes.
Like the person who posted before me I entered the US legally from Canada, then became a citizen. How long did it take? Longer than a walk through the Arizona desert. My sister is still waiting and my cousin got her's after 8 years. Yes, 8 years. Why bother? In Adam's world I OUGHT to have just snuck across the bridge in Niagara.
I stopped being taught French in school and started learning Spanish. When in Rome the saying goes. But lots of illegals have no intention of integrating. They don't want to learn English, and like the previous poster said, many who become citizens still consider themselves Mexican (Immigrants that came through Ellis Island considered themselves American). Why become US citizens then? For the benefits.
Pregnant and about to give birth, get yourself across the border. Once that baby is born on US soil. . . . . . Well, you know how it goes.
Here in Southern Arizona our hospitals are going bankrupt because they are providing care to illegals. Is giving care to those in need the right thing to do? Yes it is. But it has a cost. To hospitals, to other patients and taxpayers. Illegals know they cannot be turned away from any medical care (its the law), even without the ability to pay. Guess what, they don't pay (everyone else does).We have to carry Uninsured Motorist insurance on our cars here because so many accidents involve illegals with no insurance. Am I saying only illegals have accidents? No. But there are so many illegals here that statistically a share of accidents involve them. Had an accident with an illegal with no insurance that was not your fault, too bad you pay.
An almost daily occurrence here is an accident involving a truck, car, or van load of illegals that wrecks on the roads and injures or kills some of them (and sometimes others). Remember, the statistics for number of illegals caught every year is several hundred thousand. In Arizona ALONE.
Here's a dirty little secret: Many people from Mexico who became US citizens DON'T want the immigration reform being talked about in Washington (Hell, many illegals don't want more illegals to cross the border). They don't want an influx of millions of people to compete with them for jobs. They support an orderly immigration process for ALL immigrants, no matter where you come from.
There are actually people here who want illegals to qualify for in-state tuition at the universities. Education OUGHT to be equal for all, even those who don't subsidize it with taxes. There are also people who setup aid stations for border crossers. Why would you set these up? Because people OUGHT to have food, water and shelter while illegally crossing the border. Do people die crossing illegally, more than you know and that's just sad. But is it the Border Patrols fault for trying to stop them? It is their purpose. I won't even go into all the ridiculous restrictions on what the Border Patrol cannot do. You don't know, but the illegals do. What kind of message does this send to people thinking about crossing the border illegally? Its sort of like holding up your left hand to say stop while waving them on with your right.
So lets ask the question: Why are all these people crossing illegally? Because Mexico is a country with less opportunity than the US. Why? People always mention about 20% of Americans holding 80% of the wealth (approximately, don't be picky, you get my point) . In Mexico the numbers are closer to 5% having (you guessed it) 95% of the wealth. Again, an approximation but useful in illustration the great disparity in wealth. What does this wealth imbalance cause? Increased corruption, poverty, crime, a mass exodus of citizens. My point? Illegal immigration is the symptom, not the disease. As Adam might say: Mexican citizens ought not to have to come to the US. However this problem will never go away until Mexico fixes itself. Politically and economically (Remember, Mexico is one of the world's top oil exporters. What is that money being spent on?).
How to do that? The juries still out on that one.
It's late and I am running long without even touching the drugs issue so let me end it here. I think Adam's sentiment can best be summed up as: The world ought to be fair. My reply: The world is not.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
