Wednesday, May 13, 2009

why I hate illegal immigration...

As often as I'm invited to, I speak passionately against the trend of illegal immigration. I've been involved in many debates, and I'm frustrated by the tendency of my opponents to ignore fact and logic in favor of emotion and accusation. I've been called a racist more times than I care to count for no other reason than that I believe America's borders should be closed for mass migration and immigrants forced to ask permission to live and work in our country. I'm not, in fact, the least bit racist. I don't care what color or nationality illegals are, and I'm tired of being "blamed" for the fact that most of the immigrants coming into this country are of the same race - Hispanic.

My main argument against illegal immigration is that illegals are "beyond the radar," so to speak. Few people understand what level of impunity being "undocumented" grants a person. When you have a source to provide fake ID's, you can step in and out of them as if they were shoes. Therefore, if you commit a crime as "John Jackson," then you can turn right around and become "Jack Johnson" and as such, never be forced to account for that crime. Every study ever done shows that getting away with a crime makes a person far more likely to repeat that crime or attempt new ones. Therefore, this policy of no-involvement is actually creating criminals out of men and women who might ordinarily have been decent enough citizens. I know for a fact that illegal immigrants who father children are utterly exonerated from paying child support by the pure apathy of the system. My nephew is the product of my American sister and an illegal Honduran immigrant. When they broke up and she tried to pursue child support, she was told that since the government couldn't track him, there was no way to make him pay. Since he has at least two identities at any given time, and those change periodically, there's no way short of jailing him - which nobody seems willing to do - to make him pay for his responsibility and save his child from a life of poverty. FORCING people to become documented, even if we have to resort to the much-dreaded amnesty to get it, would go a long way toward making people accountable for taxes, child support, traffic laws, and society's demands in general.

Another reason I oppose illegal immigration is that it lowers the standards of American life and undermines the labor force. Employers who have a ready supply of people to exploit are less likely to offer benefits and fair wages to American citizens. It's a known fact that people who fear deportation are NOT going to demand fair treatment. It's also a fact of capitalism that businesses will resort to any means necessary to lower costs and maximize profits, with many of them willing to break a few "victimless" laws to do so. They rationalize that giving someone a job who would have otherwise been destitute in Mexico is an act of compassion and therefore not subject to any further scrutiny lest those who scrutinize be labeled racist and uncaring of the plights of others.

This leads me to my next point of contention. People tend to dismiss illegal immigration under the misguided perception that the immigrants are guilty of nothing more than (very understandably) wanting a better way of life for themselves and their families. What they tend to forget is that migrating to another country is not the only - or even the best - way to improve one's quality of life. It's merely the easiest. The problems that Mexico (or most any other third world nation worthy of immediate escape) faces were not created by God or leprechauns or foreign invaders who oppressed the nation's efforts at progress. The problems were created by Mexicans and allowed to escalate by the Mexican people, and I refuse to believe that knowing this simple fact makes me a racist. Social reform requires organization and hard work on the part of a nation's people, and many times they have to resort to outright rebellion and civil war to end corruption and oppression. Abandoning one's nation and heritage rather than trying to fight for it doesn't show an impressive capacity for patriotism and social responsibility.

Mexico became what it is because of overpopulation, political corruption, and corporate exploitation. Ironically, many immigrants come to America and advocate these exact same behaviors. They want the government to look the other way for its own benefit on immigration (so their families can come over and "share the dream," even if they have nothing to add to it but dream) and they want corporations to be allowed to hire workers with no questions asked (so they and their families can get jobs) even if it means sacrificing some of the luxuries those "spoiled selfish Americans" seem to always be demanding. In short, they're slowly but surely turning the country they coveted into another version of the one they abandoned.

Unfortunately, many individuals are made to suffer for the results of mass behavior, but life has never been fair and I really am sorry for their troubles. I would contribute (and do through the Greater Good network) to any effort a nation is making to rebuild itself. However, I'll never be sorry enough for the troubles of someone else to ruin my own life to make theirs better. Otherwise, my house would be full to the rafters of worthy homeless people. There's nothing wrong with a healthy level of selfishness. It's what enabled humans to evolve as a species and one of the driving qualities that enabled America to build itself into this posh superpower that every other nation simultaneously envies and resents. As long as people are willing to take advantage of goodwill, then goodwill will never be a smart business practice.

When you're thinking (and voting) about illegal immigration, you have to look past compassion for the individual and think about your nation (and theirs) as a whole. The choice to protect America will not automatically make you a racist or a despicable person. However, allowing a race of people to pour its needy into our economy can (and will) create racial tensions that lead to hatred and violence. History speaks for itself. I really don't want my children involved in the civil war and general hardship that I think will come from overpopulation and having a race of people who are above and/or beyond the law. If that desire gets me attacked and labeled as a Mexican-hating hillbilly, so be it! I'm going to speak out against illegal immigration anyway, because for the last time, it's not about race!

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I need to know if you are ticklish on the bottoms of your bare feet--i think i may have tickled them terribly on nite flirt.

tickle man

June 1, 2009 at 9:04 PM  
Blogger Damiana Raven said...

Good God! Did you forget how to use the NF message system?

June 2, 2009 at 6:36 AM  

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