Fears and Dreams

This morning I saw a post on FB by someone who is a real life friend. Someone I would actually hug if i met them (which, if you know me, is rare). The post decried the fact that illegal immigrants are being used by big business. They are being paid too little and not given benefits or decent working conditions.

I wanted to comment "Amen! This is exactly why we need to end illegal immigration" but then I got to thinking. This person is a self-professed liberal. I know that if I posted such a thing I would be immediately attacked by the person's friends, called names, and the whole thread would go up in flames. Perhaps this person would even unfriend me, and certainly it would make it awkward (at best) when next we met in real life.

So I said nothing and moved on. I have two things to say about that (well, probably more, we'll see).

First off, I am saddened that I can't have a discussion with people, who I am otherwise good friends with,  about basically anything important in life, or in current events. Yes, I know, this was on FB, but I know (or at least I'm pretty sure) in real life the conversation wouldn't go much better. It would certainly be more polite, but the end result would be the same. At best, disappointment. At worst, "unfriending." I have a (short) list of relatives and friends for whom this has happened with me.

Why is it that so many people can't associate with people who have different views from them? Are people so shallow that they say "I love you, but only if you believe 'X' and 'Y' and not 'Z'?" There seems to be mode of though that says if I believe Z or fail to believe X or Y, then I am an 'A' (substitute your favorite bad person word there - bigot, hater, idiot, denier).

Nobody cares enough to find out why I believe 'Z' and don't believe 'X' and 'Y'. Nobody cares enough to say "even though we disagree you are still a good person." How petty! How narrow minded have we as a society become? Free speech, but only for me, because your speech is not "tolerant."

I could rant but onto point number 2. Immigration. I would normally be on the side of the immigrants, except for a few things. One is the way illegals get treated (low wages, poor working conditions, no benefits, etc.). Another is the horror stories coming out all the time. People found dying in Walmart parking lots, mass graves near the border. Stories of robberies and rapes of people trying to cross the border.

By supporting illegal immigration you are saying "I don't want to stop these things from happening." Now I'm not saying that people want these things to happen, or are supporting them, but when you create a "black market" for US residency, you surely can't expect there not to be black marketeers.

"Well, lock up the criminals who are doing this to the illegal immigrants!" you say? Then how would they get here, without the coyotes and human traffickers? The solution we should all agree on is to stop illegal immigration! If there is no illegal immigration, there is no reason to take people's money, kill them, rape them, or lock them in trailer trucks in 100 degree weather. There is no reason to pay them low wages and give them poor working conditions.

"What about the people already here?" you say? Give them a path. I propose we give illegal immigrants some amount of time (6 months, say) to register as illegals. Their cases would be considered and they could be vetted and either made legal immigrants or deported. Anyone who didn't register after the deadline would be deported on sight. But make the laws and let them work. Operating outside the law perpetuates a scenario where justice cannot operate, and the weak will be preyed upon. Surely everyone can see that.

But then again, maybe not. It seems too many people consider their world view more important than the world.

Posted in: America,immigration