Sunday, August 17, 2008

The American Dream -- The Legal Way

In Potsville, Iowa, the INS (or CBT, or "The Man," whatever you want to call them) had a field day raiding a meat-packing plant back on May 12 of this year.

Apparently, most of the town's population were illegal immigrants from Guatemala and Mexico. The town seems, now, to be reeling in the wake of the raid and the meat-packing plant is severely understaffed.

What I don't understand is this: Why are they surprised?!

I have no problem with immigrants. My ancestors were some. In fact, all of our ancestors were immigrants. Unless, of course, your ancestors were on the United States' land before the rest of us got here. But that's a rant for another day. My problem isn't with immigration. It's with the immigrants who somehow think it's okay to by-pass the established laws and do things their own way.

Just because Frankie sang it, doesn't make it true.

If you're going to come to this country to make things better for your family, fine. Do it the legal way. Talk to your local CBT contact. Fill out the paperwork. File for a visa. Get your documentation in order, then get a job. Oh, and while you're at it? You're in America now. We speak English here. Learn it. Speak it. You want a new life? Forget your old one. If you wanna speak your language with your friends and family, great! That's your culture. If you want to get by in America, speak English. It's our language and though many slaughter it mercilessly, we all understand each other.

As I read the story of the raid, I tried very hard to fault the government for excessive anal retentiveness, but. I couldn't. The only thing I could see that was a problem was the electronic bands that dig into the skin. That's just not humanitarian. Of course, neither is stealing someone else's ID to get a job and work to send money to your family in another country. You're in America. Support the economy. You're robbing from the very place you want to "escape" to. This will not give anyone warm fuzzies.

I realize I'm most likely in the minority (both literally and figuratively), but that doesn't mean I don't have a voice. It doesn't mean that I will just sit back and let people walk over what I believe in. What do I believe in? Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--legally. My friends and family did not fight for American freedoms for you to not have the respect to follow our laws.

If we tried that in your country, we'd be shot.

Something to think about...

2 comments:

Artemis Tau said...

A-bloody-men. The only thing that confounds me more than these asshats that think it's their right to do this are the idiots who just put up with it.

Anonymous said...

There's another side to this arguement. Which are the people who are enabling the illegals to come and work in the US.

There are a lot of employers in the US who'd like nothing better than to hire undocumented workers. Mostly because they don't have to be paid minimum wage (Although what they are paid is usually better than what they can get in their home country.) and the employers don't have to bother with Social Security.

I still think the underlying problem to immigration has to fairer trade with other countries. The idea being if people can make a living in their own countries they won't have to immigrate illegally.