I was intrigued.
In the first place, the Governor of Arizona looks like the product of bad casting.
(“No no,” you would cry, “She’s not the Governor. She’s the Governor’s ex wife’s obnoxious Aunt Florence who is the first one eaten by the pod people... in the swamp … on Mars”)
In the second place, I was attracted by the obvious and loud opposition to the law the Governor was signing.
“Illegal aliens and the crimes they bring in are overrunning the state,” the Governor says. “They have to be stopped.”
I’m not sure why, but this seemed to many to be a radical concept.
“Sanctuary,” I know of one alien claiming. “Give me sanctuary.” And this person was taken into a church, housed, fed, and encouraged to resist deportation.
Would the church be as willing to take in a bicycle thief?
What’s the difference?
By best estimates, there are millions of illegal aliens in this country. Not thousands, not tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands – millions. I can’t even fathom that many people.
And, being illegal, they don’t pay taxes on anything.
They don’t pay for fire departments, road repairs, or city lights, yet they use these services every day.
These millions of people also get health care. Free.
The children of illegal aliens attend our already over filled public schools. Again, there is not even a beginning of financial support from their parents.
There used to be a rational that “they are filling jobs nobody else wants.” With unemployment standing at about ten per cent, I don’t think that excuse still works.
The one cry I hear from opponents to this law is that of racial profiling. Aliens must carry identification when they are out in public. This strikes me as funny. I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t carry identification with them.
It isn’t that I don’t feel sympathy for suffering people – I do. But breaking the law and stealing from the government is not a good way to start a relationship. I’m beginning to feel like I’m being pushed – and worse, secretly scorned and laughed at.
And that is a mistake.
They have attracted my attention
The last I knew, laws were still being enacted and enforced in this country by the majority.
And the last I knew, that was still me ... and the Governor of Arizona ... and one or two other people..
Comments?
j
5 comments:
Immigration is good for a country bringing fresh ideas etc. Illegal immigration brings dissention and is a recipe for disaster. However, is more legislation going to help? Are they 'illegals' because they are already breaking the law? In which case it seems to be enforcement that needs attending to, not new laws? The more laws there are, the more unwieldy the system, the more fees the lawyers charge for sifting through them.
Most illegal aliens actually do pay taxes, first of all. Second of all, being able to randomly ask people for their identification smacks of Nazi Germany. Third of all, they are not getting free health care. Not by any stretch. Most of them are uninsured like the rest of us and petrified to seek medical care lest immigration officials be notified.
Seth Myers made a joke on SNL this weekend that I thought was apt. And I quote:
"This week Arizona signed the toughest illegal immigration law in the country, which would allow the police to demand identification papers from anyone they suspect is in the country illegally. I know there are some people in Arizona worried that Obama is acting like Hitler, but can we all agree that there's nothing more Nazi than saying, `Show me your papers?' There's never been a WWII movie that didn't include the line, `Show me your papers.' It's their catchphrase. Every time someone says `Show me your papers,' Hitler's family gets a residual check. So heads up Arizona, that's fascism. I know, I know, it's a dry fascism, but it's still fascism."
The United States is a country built on immigrants looking to make a better life for themselves. While it is undeniable that there are millions of illegal aliens in the country, there is absolutely no excuse for this kind of unchecked facism. The price we will ultimately pay will be far larger than any dollar amount.
I'm with you on this one. I welcome visitors and immigrants to the country but it is just common sense that people should be expected to come here legally and openly. When I visit another country, I think they have the right to expect open declaration of my presence and compliance with their laws. Go figure.
KP
Dear inflammatory writ.
We in this country have always lived by extremes. One law will swing far in one direction, another will swing in another, and eventually we will find middle ground. We saw this with the health care bill, and now this law. We have to start somewhere. If this is a bad law, the responsible thing to do is not to just drop it, leaving us where we were before, but rather to replace it with a good law.
By the way, "show me your papers" has no weight at all. When you go out, you always have identification with you, and from time to time people have asked you for it.
Just because people want to be here doesn't mean they can come in by any means necessary. Imagine if all the neighborhood kids started showing up in your yard wanting your food and using your electric and water.
To say that most pay taxes is a pretty broad stroke. I don't think I believe ILLEGALs are paying taxes. They are paid under the table with no social security number.If they have green cards or overstayed their visas, maybe so.
I think it's wrong to be forgiving people for breaking the law. What message are we sending them and everyone else watching?
I Applaud Arizona for making a hard line choice. They clearly know more than those of us in cities and states miles away, what is happening in their own state.
And while it is wildly unpopular at the moment, I hope wisdom prevails of course.
It would bother me a lot more if they were forced to wear something on their sleeves.
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