I need some help here friends making my mind up on this
illegal alien debacle that Obama has set off. Before we get going let me state
where I stand on immigration into the United States. I'm all for controlled,
legal immigration. Immigrants throughout the history of our great country have
made huge contributions to our society. In fact, unless you're a descendent or
a Native American you've either immigrated here yourself or are a descendent of
an immigrant.
Just as I'm for legal immigration I'm adamantly opposed
to illegal immigration. Right now illegal aliens are wreaking havoc on our
welfare system, taking badly needed jobs from citizens, & causing environmental
damage on the border states. In addition illegal immigrants are being used at
an ever increasing rate to smuggle drugs into our country which fuels even more
violent crime, human trafficking, & a host of other horrific problems.
Now here's where I need your help. I'm trying to make my
mind up on the big illegal alien debacle going on right now with young people. Obama
by executive decree has basically ordered the stoppage of young illegal aliens
below the age of 22 if I remember right. The problem I have with Obama's decree
is that I believe that it's nothing more than an election year ploy to try to
get the Hispanic & Latino votes. In that sense the decree is wrong.
I feel that the best thing to do here would be for
Congress to set up a program (groan) that would allow young people, or anyone
for that matter, that has been here in the USA since a certain age, say younger
than 16 just guessing, to apply for citizenship without the fear of being
deported. I know that this sounds similiar to what Obama is doing but I truly
feel that the issue of young illegal aliens needs to be done constitutionally
which means that Congress needs to address the issue, write the rules, assign departmental
governing authority, & then fund it. I'm afraid Obama's way of doing it is
unconstitutional (as usual) & Obama is creating a bigger mess then he
claims to be cleaning up just to secure votes.
Now do I believe that a young person here illegally should
be summarily deported if they've been in the USA since they were a child &
have no serious criminal history? Not really, no. Let me say why. Many of these
young people may not know that they are here illegally as many of them have
been here since they were just children. Loading them up & sending them
back to the country they came from could at the very least be a huge shock to
them. Many of them could even very well having a hard time surviving as they
could very well be seen as outcasts & have a very difficult time finding
income, other than submitting to human trafficking, thus jeopardizing their
very survival.
I'm sure you've heard the saying that "you should
walk a mile in another person's shoes before judging them." That's what
I'm trying to do here by putting myself in their situation.
Suppose it was my Father rather than my Grandfather that emigrated
here from Poland. Also, instead of coming here legally through Ellis Island he
managed somehow to sneak in. Now my Father is here & even though I would
have been born in Poland my parents brought me here as a young child. I pretty
much know very little of my homeland other then what I've heard my family talk
about it around the house. I also have not a clue I'm not here legally. After
all I attended public school here all the way from kindergarten up through graduating
as a senior. English is my primary language and I am not very fluent in our
native tongue as my parents try not to speak it around me very much because
they want me to know the language that Americans speak because it will help me integrate
better. What do you think would happen to me if all of a sudden I find myself
in custody for whatever reason, doesn't have to be a serious criminal charge,
it could be something as simple as an immigration sweep, & I'm on the next
flight "home" to Poland? For me that is not a pleasant thought.
I'm still trying to decide for sure exactly how best to
address this issue but this is what I've come up with so far. Am I on the right
track? Is what's happening as the way Obama decreed correct? How big of a
problem do you really see this? Please let me know what you think about what
I've come up with so far. In addition, I'd love to hear your thoughts in
general.
There are two
things I do know for sure. One, if we don't with this problem fast it's really
going to get out of hand much worse than it is now. Two, those of us that claim
to be conservatives have been labeled uncompassionate when we claim to be compassionate.
If we don't show compassion here & do this right then we will prove our
detractors right, make hypocrites of ourselves, & definitely lose a ton of
ground that we have fought so hard to gain.
Be Blessed!
Big
I sure think you are correct. We do have to deal with the existing population of illegal immigrants and their families, and this is a fairly humane and restricted measure.
ReplyDeleteWhat really and truly irks me about the whole immigration issue is the people who claim we "need" the illegal immigrants and should not shutter the border are the same ones who don't want to ease legal immigration requirements for immigrants from Asia, Europe and so on.
Of course the fact that most of these people are self reliant and are overwhelmingly conservative once they get here would have nothing to do with that, no?
Good points Jeff!
DeleteThanks!