Let’s see if I’ve got this right, the American borders are being flooded every year with illegal immigrants. That is, people, who for whatever reason, feel that the United States has a better living situation than where they were previously living. This is nothing new, but it has become more frequent and more dangerous for those living in the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
For years politicians have either called for tougher restrictions for people entering this country or others have called for more lenient measures, yet nothing really gets done. I think that there have been poor attempts at best by both political parties to realistically secure the borders. They argue to put up a fence or don’t put up a fence, have more people or technology guarding the border, or have little to no restrictions to guard our borders, they argue about making tougher legislation for those entering here illegally or to open the borders completely. Nothing the federal government has done has worked and most is either too little too late or just empty words to get re-elected into their perspective offices. The reality is that the illegal immigrants crossing our borders are not a priority to most politicians.
Lately there has been a lot of news hype over the Arizona Immigration Law SB1070. Politicians and most of the liberal news media have been saying that this law is unconstitutional and that it will lead to “racial profiling”. That is interesting, since the governor of Arizona has never, nor have ANY of the current law enforcement officers of Arizona (white, brown, black, or green) have ever said that this law is anything even close to being a racial profiling law. In fact, they have been saying for weeks now that this new law which is to go into effect in August 2010 is to help establish a legal guideline for controlling their border.
Our President openly provokes fear within the American people and creates an image that Arizona is entering into something of a Gestapo State. He uses the illustration where a man takes his children out to get ice cream and all of a sudden the police rush in demanding to see their papers on their legal status for being in Arizona. REALLY? Is this really, Mr. President the type of message that you want to convey? Or, are you just like your Attorney General appointee, Eric Holder, and you’re just making paranoid assumptions about a law that you have NEVER READ?
Eric Holder is the current United States Attorney General. He has made at least three public addresses condemning the new Arizona Immigration Law SB1070 and just last week on C-Span admits that he has NEVER PERSONALLY READ the Arizona bill!*
According to Dictionary.com, the function of the Attorney General of the United States job is to be “ . . . the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government.” Shouldn’t the “chief law enforcement officer” know that law BEFORE he makes comments about whether or not a law is legal? Should he not be concerned that his opinion about this bill actually provoke “racial profiling”? Should he not first read the bill before opening his or her mouth and expressing an opinion based on ignorance? I would think that someone with so much power and influence would be more honest and less biased! Then again, I thought that biases were not supposed to have any affect on law, that “law” was blind?
It’s also interesting to me that news media and others have been talking about this Arizona bill as if it is already illegal. They are making comments about this bill, that it is unconstitutional. But wait a second, aren’t the people who come across the border without proper visas the ones that are here illegally? Thus the term, “Illegal Alien”. Once again, quoting Dictionary.com, “Illegal” means 1. “forbidden by law or statute.”; 2. “contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc.” Aren’t the people coming across the border already breaking the law by coming here ILLEGALLY?
Maybe this is when some synonyms** are needed to help better explain exactly what “Illegally” means? Here’s a decent list:
unlawful, illegitimate, illicit, unlicensed, illegal, unlawful
As most of you know, we’ve been living in Brazil for the past 15 years. We didn’t just show up in the São Paulo airport one day, telling the Federal Police that we had just arrived and that they therefore had to let us into their country. In Brazil you have to have a visa to enter their country. We had to be registered, finger printed and photographed to enter. We have to inform the Federal Police any time we move, informing them of our current address. We have to keep up our visas in order to stay in that country.
Mexico has even stronger restrictions than either the United States of Brazil. One blogger has said “Under the Mexican law, illegal immigration is a felony, punishable by up to two years in prison. Immigrants who are deported and attempt to re-enter can be imprisoned for 10 years. Visa violators can be sentenced to six-year terms and Mexicans who help illegal immigrants are considered criminals." ***
I recently read a quote that I’d like to share:
"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 person's becoming in every facet 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... 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
My point, once again is a simple one. Politicians, cut out the hypocrisy and get honest with the people! Read the Arizona bill BEFORE you open your mouth and express your uninformed paranoia of opinion as a fact. All you do is to make yourselves into a bunch of manipulating liars!
* See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U4tI_qzyH0
** Synonym = “a word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another in the language”
1 comment:
If you have a comment, I welcome your feedback. But, if you're going to comment in a language other than English, then I would prefer that you keep your comments to yourself! Jeff
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