Latina Lista: News from the Latinx perspective > Life Issues > Children > Research finds immigration enforcement exacts a hefty toll on children of the undocumented

Research finds immigration enforcement exacts a hefty toll on children of the undocumented

LatinaLista — One aspect of illegal immigration that doesn’t get the coverage it deserves, but for many immigrant advocates is the heart and soul of the push for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, is what happens to the children of undocumented immigrants.

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On February 4, the Urban Institute released the study Facing Our Future: Children in the Aftermath of Immigration Enforcement.

The study deals with the emotional, physical and economic impact that the removal, arrest and detention of an undocumented parent has on the children in the family.

Today, there are an estimated 5.5 million children with unauthorized immigrant parents, about three-quarters of whom are U.S.-born citizens.

By one estimate, in the last 10 years, over 100,000 immigrant parents of U.S. citizen children have been deported from the United States.

The findings of the study are not new nor surprising. In fact, it makes sense that children would have behavioral problems, experience food insecurity, fears of homelessness, fear of never seeing a parent again and even depression if they had a parent, especially who was the main breadwinner, picked up by Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) and carted off never to be seen for months.

What the study does accomplish by profiling 190 children in 85 families in six different towns and cities, that experienced hardship after well-publicized immigration raids, is shed further light on a disturbing injustice.

The fact is these children have the potential to contribute much to this country, as their parents already do by working, living and spending their money in their local communities. It is shameful, as well as frightening, that those children who are U.S. citizens are so easily dismissed by our government without any effort to explore ways to allow them to stay united with their families.

The study tells of how towns were decimated after immigration raids because the target employer happened to be the main source of jobs in that town and the workers arrested and deported were that community’s best residents.

The study’s authors offer viable solutions to prevent families from being separated and subjecting these children to such emotional and economic traumas. They are measures that can, for the most part, be implemented without the passage of an immigration bill in Congress — because they address the human side of this complex issue which encompasses a common sense approach to safeguarding the welfare and well-being of children.

It is an objective that every industrialized country claims to honor.

It’s time the United States honored it as well.

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Comment(34)

  • cookie
    February 10, 2010 at 8:04 pm

    The best solution for these parents and their kids is to return to the parent’s homeland as a family.
    This mess rests soley on the shoulders of the illegal alien parents and they should not be able use these kids as pawns to remain in our country.
    The party is over and they had better wake up to that fact. There will be no amnesty so no use hanging around hoping that there will be. Go home where you belong and take your kids with you. The American born ones can return when they are 18 if they so choose.

  • Alonzo
    February 10, 2010 at 9:19 pm

    “The fact is these children have the potential to contribute much to this country, as their parents already do by working, living and spending their money in their local communities.”
    This could be said of the millions of children of would be immigrants who use the system to gain a green card. There’s nothing special about children of illegal immigrants in this respect. The fact that their families are poorly educated and can barely write in their own language makes them a social and economic liability to this country from the very day they cross the border. Moreover, legal immigrants are far better educated, many already speaking English. Their children are not handicapped by parents who do not really fit in with a literate America. I’m sorry, by your claims that these people are equal to their legal competition is plainly not true.

  • Kolosochek
    February 11, 2010 at 7:53 am

    Children and parents join the Class-action law suit to keep families together. It organized by American fraternity. More information can be found http://americanfraternity.org/

  • irma
    February 11, 2010 at 10:55 am

    The USA has the responsibility to take care of ALL US citizens regardless of who their parents are. The US government should
    give the undocumented parents of US citizens a green card under the following conditions 1) monetary fine for every year that they were in the US without legal immigration status. This fine should be paid in full in less than 3 years. 2) immediate deportation for any crime committed including misdemeanors 3) immediate deportation for defaulting on any economic obligations.
    Children regardless of their age should be given the opportunity to stay. They are American citizens and our government should protect them.
    Sending them back to Mexico is simply throwing them away.

  • Evelyn
    February 11, 2010 at 11:35 am

    Speaking of “poorly educated and can barely write in their own language, and a literate America.
    I have photos of a bunch of people that can’t speak or write their own language and they are anything but literate.
    Look here
    They are called
    “Village Idiots”

  • Bryan J.
    February 11, 2010 at 3:56 pm

    Blah Blah Blah.
    Children born in the United States are indistinguishable under our laws, regardless of who their parents are.
    There is a form of relief from removal for undocumented parents who have U.S. citizen children: cancellation of removal. Unfortunately, this relief is extremely difficult to obtain.
    Here are the requirements, if anyone is interested.
    1) Has continuously resided in the United States for at least ten years; and
    2) Has been a person of good moral character throughout this time; and
    3) Is not otherwise subject to criminal bars arising from a conviction of any crime outlined in INA §212(a)(2), §237(a)(2), or §237(a)(3); and
    4) Establishes that removal would result in “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” to the alien’s spouse, parent, or child who is a United States citizen or legal permanent resident.
    #1 and #4 are what makes this relief difficult. 10 years is a long time and the “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” is a very high standard of proof. i.e. just showing that U.S. citizen children would be economically worse off in the parents’ home country would not be enough.
    Hey, I’d continue on, but I just realized this is enough for a blog post of its own. Thanks for the spark.

  • Texan123
    February 11, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    Why not let these kids and parents contribute to the future of their homeland? There they can work, live and contribute to their local communities. I am getting so tired of the same old excuses.
    They come for a better life for their kids. Then they demand we learn Spanish out of respect for them. They try to change the laws to suit their needs. Then they demand college for their kids, subsidized by taxpayers. We all know that college is useless without legal status to work, so they demand that too. These undocumented immigrants are too demanding. Little by little they are turning the U.S. into Mexico. This country is out of money, broke. Soon they will be looking for a better place for their kids…

  • irma
    February 15, 2010 at 12:43 pm

    Hello?
    The homeland of the kids in question IS the USA………

  • Dee
    February 15, 2010 at 4:06 pm

    irma : said – The USA has the responsibility to take care of ALL US citizens regardless of who their parents are.
    Sorry thats pure BS. Our country is not responsibile for people from other countries who can drop little anchors, especially those who illegally enter this country. The blame here lies in the illegal parent, who know they are breaking many laws and the risk of deportation, yet still decide to bring anchors into the world and put their children at risk. It is not the gov’t fault that they are enforcing our laws. Stupid people shouldn’t breed. That anchor baby law needs to be changed so that both parents are legal citizens. The most prominant reason illegals make babies is the hope they will be able to stay in this country and also collect all the freebies and benefits they should not be entitled to. This would also help eliminate overcrowding in schools, save taxpayer money for free lunches, etc. If our gov’t hadn’t shirked their duties for so long and just enforced the immigration laws and quit pandering to illegals and their advocates and greedy businesses, we wouldn’t be in this mess right now. Illegals need to realize they are the cause of their problems. Children are the responsibility of their parents and if the parents are criminals then they intentionally put their children in harms way.

  • Alonzo
    February 16, 2010 at 7:30 am

    “The homeland of the kids in question IS the USA……..”
    And the country of their parents. Since they were born of illegal alien foreign parents they also have citizenship derived from them. Morally, the child has more attachment to the child’s country than the U.S., the country whose borders they violated.
    I’m sorry, but the parents have a much greater responsibility for bringing their children into the world than the rest of the nation who didn’t. The parents are morally obligated to take care of them until the age of maturity. The citizens of this country do not become surrogates for the parents just because the parents are deportable. The universal rule understood by world is that parents have to take their children wherever they go. If find it morally reprehensible that parents would use a child to maintain their presence in this country, hence I have no sympathy for those who would do so.

  • irma
    February 16, 2010 at 3:48 pm

    Wow, Dee – now American citizens are being called “little anchors.” Your claim to US citizenship was based solely on YOU not someone else.
    BTW, most undocumented immigrants dont
    use social services in the USA because it will reveal their immigration status.
    Every day, American passports are rightfully given to the US born children of people who are temporarily here for training in US universities. Many return to their native countries and then send their children back to the US , to take advantage of American opportunities in education, medical care etc. In an sense, this seems very unfair to US ciitzens who were born and grew up in the USA.
    Why dont you complain about that instead of whining about CHILDREN?

  • Cary
    February 16, 2010 at 6:52 pm

    Dee, that will happen in the near future. Read this article from the San Bernardino Sun:
    GOP bill aims to retool immigrant birthright citizenship
    http://www.sbsun.com/ci_14400978?source=most_viewed#ixzz0fiU8ncKM
    Babies of illegals would not receive citizenship
    Stephen Wall, Staff Writer
    Posted: 02/14/2010 09:11:01 AM PST
    Republican lawmakers in Congress are sponsoring a bill that seeks to abolish birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to illegal immigrant parents.
    Federal law automatically grants citizenship to any person born on American soil, regardless of the immigration status of the child’s parents.
    Supporters of the bill say that many people come to this country for the express purpose of having children who are American citizens, making the family eligible for welfare and other government benefits.
    “You have many people coming to this country illegally,” said Rep. Gary Miller, R-Brea, a co-sponsor of the legislation. “They come to this country and have babies. The children are citizens. The children are eligible to go to school. They receive food stamps and social programs. The American taxpayers are paying for it.”
    The bill does not seek to change the Constitution, which grants birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment ratified in 1868.
    Instead, it would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to clarify the interpretation of the 14th Amendment.
    The measure would limit birthright citizenship to children born to at least one parent who is either a citizen, lawful permanent resident or actively serving in the U.S. military. The legislation would only apply prospectively and would not affect the citizenship status of people born before the bill’s enactment.
    If the bill passes, people on both
    Advertisement
    sides of the issue say it is likely to be challenged on constitutional grounds.
    “This bill is unconstitutional,” said Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino. “It would change one of the most basic principles that our nation was founded on: If you were born in the United States, you’re an American.”
    Baca accused the bill’s sponsors of playing election-year politics.
    “We should ban these types of divisive proposals,” Baca said. “All this bill is meant to do is play on people’s fears, incite anger and hate surrounding anti-immigration policies. This bill doesn’t do anything to fix our broken immigration system.”
    Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs, declined to comment because she wasn’t “fully informed” on the issue, spokesman Nathan Landers said in an e-mail. Napolitano’s district includes Pomona.
    Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, said that granting birthright citizenship worsens the illegal immigration problem.
    “There’s an incentive for people to come here and quickly have a baby,” said McKeon, a co-sponsor of the bill whose district includes Victorville and Barstow. “Since the baby is a citizen, it’s harder to send the family back to where they came from if they came illegally. Now you have a citizen and it would split up the family.”
    Miller said he welcomes the U.S. Supreme Court intervening to settle the debate.
    The bill’s proponents say the intent of the 14th Amendment was to grant citizenship to emancipated slaves after the Civil War.
    The amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
    Miller said the words, “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” should not apply to children born in the United States to illegal immigrant parents.
    “You can’t tell me a person who is a citizen of any other country is subject to our jurisdiction. They’re not,” said Miller, whose district includes Chino and Chino Hills. “If their parents are from another country, they are a citizen of that country. They are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.”
    Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, has not taken a position on the bill. Jim Specht, his spokesman, said in an e-mail that Lewis believes it is the job of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution.
    Lewis “understands the problems created by children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants,” Specht said, “but hearings in previous Congresses have shown that bills like the `birthright’ bill would have a difficult time passing a constitutional challenge.”
    Kathleen Lane Schneider, a Redlands Tea Party organizer who plans to run for Lewis’ congressional seat in the June Republican primary, criticized Lewis for not taking a stand.
    “I think this is a typical thing that Congressman Lewis has done over the years,” Schneider said. “He’s a follower and not a leader. He will not take a position until he finds out what everybody else thinks.”
    Schneider said she is in the early stages of her campaign and wasn’t prepared to state an opinion on the issue.
    Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, supports the Judiciary Committee deciding whether a simple bill or constitutional amendment is needed to change the law, said Jo Maney, his spokeswoman.
    “Illegal immigration is absolutely a concern,” Maney said. “It’s something he’s very much opposed to and seeks to end. Getting to the heart of the problem is reducing the incentive to come in the first place.”
    Adrian Pantoja, associate professor of political studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, said the legislation is “largely symbolic” and unlikely to pass.
    “There’s a long tradition in America,” Pantoja said. “We really don’t hold the children responsible for the actions of the parents. It wasn’t the child’s fault that the parents came here.”
    McKeon concedes that the bill’s sponsors face an uphill battle.
    “Right now, it’s an impossible thing because Democrats don’t support it, and they’re controlling everything. We have to win the majority back,” McKeon said. “It will be hard to make this happen, but I’m willing to put my name on the line and fight for it.”
    Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/ci_14400978?source=most_viewed#ixzz0fkYGBIQm

  • Evelyn
    February 17, 2010 at 2:58 am

    Dee
    Native Americans had some of the same thoughts you do when their homeland was invaded by racist European criminals who they saw as very stupid people because Europeans couldent do much of anything.
    They weren’t capable of learning our language, we had to learn theirs. They were unable to feed themselves or even bath themselves.
    They didnt know how to live off the land and many died of starvation until we gave them food and showed them how to grow corn and other vegetables. They smelled horrible and had hair all over their faces and bodies like sasquatch.
    The reason these stupid European criminals invaded this land and dropped their anchors was so these anchors would be able to stay on this land and collect all the freebies and benefits they should not be entitled to like they enjoy today.
    If we had let them all die, 95% of Native Americans would not have been killed, slavery would not have existed, 120,000 Japanese Americans would not have been forceable incarcerated against the law, Jim crow era and lynchings would not have existed, ‘sundown towns’ would not have existed and neither would people who parrot and are hell bent on emulating the European criminals who committed all these atrocities.

  • cookie
    February 17, 2010 at 7:59 am

    Many illegal alien parents do collect welfare through their U.S. born children. That is just a fact.
    The Japanese migrated over here just like the Europeans did and yet Evelyn doesn’t demonize them, only white Americans.
    Many white American’s ancestors came over here the same time that the Japanese immigrants did and never were involved in any native indian conflicts but that doesn’t matter to her. All that matters is if you are white then we are all guilty but the Japanese and other immigrants who also came over here without the permission of the native indians get a pass. You’ll never hear her call them illegal in their own country, only white people.
    My ancestor’s came from Poland not England or any of the other countries where the first Europeans came from but it doesn’t matter to her because I am white. Hers came from Ireland so her white ancestors get a pass also. Does anyone doubt that she just hates all white people unless they are ok with open borders for anyone south of our border?

  • Texan123
    February 17, 2010 at 8:57 am

    Evelyn,
    WOW, so the stupid European criminals invaded this land and dropped anchor babies to collect freebies and benefits?
    So would you agree that the stupid Mexican criminals are doing the same thing ?

  • irma
    February 17, 2010 at 3:53 pm

    GOP bill aims to retool immigrant birthright citizenship
    http://www.sbsun.com/ci_14400978?source=most_viewed#ixzz0fiU8ncKM
    Wow, well I guess that is probably the best way to bring Mexican Americans to the polls! Go ahead GOP and watch how you will lose control of the Southwestern part of the USA. Mexican Americans like me will work actively to throw out of office any
    politician who supports that bill!

  • irma
    February 18, 2010 at 12:51 pm

    Cookie,
    I have news for you- you arent white. Ask a German i if Poles are white. Ask any Englishman if the Irish are white.
    Being of European origin doesnt make you white. From what I have told only the following are white : English, Scots, German, Scandanavians and the French.
    My source for this ? The ultimate authority for white people : Adolf Hitler.
    Do you seen now, how ridiculous it is that you hang onto that stupid designation of what you are ?

  • Beverly
    February 18, 2010 at 4:41 pm

    “Go ahead GOP and watch how you will lose control of the Southwestern part of the USA. Mexican Americans like me will work actively to throw out of office any
    politician who supports that bill!”
    Empty threat, as you’ve already tried to do so but you haven’t had any success. Arizona has already passed laws to govern illegal immigration and you had no success in beating that effort. Where do you think that you’ll have any success? Legal Latinos are still a minority in the Southwest.

  • Evelyn
    February 19, 2010 at 5:03 am

    Texan123 :
    Evelyn,
    WOW, so the stupid European criminals invaded this land and dropped anchor babies to collect freebies and benefits?
    So would you agree that the stupid Mexican criminals are doing the same thing ?
    ~~~
    When you can show me a history book that says Mexicans are criminals and have killed 95% of the American population, and that they are stupid and incapable of finding their way here sometimes against great odds, they are stupid and incapable of finding a job and they are incapable of finding a place to live and food to eat in a foreign country which they dont even speak the language of, then I will admit they are doing the same thing.
    Even American citizens seem incapable of finding a job, finding shelter and feeding themselves. That is the reason we have so many social programs in this country.

  • cookie
    February 19, 2010 at 8:00 am

    Irma, if I am not of the white race then what am I racially? Hitler? You are going to go by his words as to what race I am? LOL!
    Evelyn, are you for real? MOST Americans have always worked in this country and had homes and fed their families. Boy, your hatred for Americans and in particular the white variety knows no bounderies, does it? And you accuse others of lies???
    By the way, my Polish ancestors came here not knowing the language and took back breaking jobs and managed to build homes and feed their families. None of my family on either side take handouts from the goverment. Nice stereotyping of all Americans there. Your hatred just eeks out of your pores, doesn’t it?

  • cookie
    February 19, 2010 at 9:09 am

    By the way Irma, thanks for getting Evelyn off my back by claiming that I am not white. I am a person of color instead so I shouldn’t hear anymore demonization by her about my past ancestors, now should I?
    Yup, I am a blue-eyed, blonde-haired woman of both Polish and Irish ancestry…nothing white about me, lol.

  • Texan123
    February 19, 2010 at 2:13 pm

    Evelyn,
    You really need to seek help for your hatred. It is consuming you from the inside out.
    None of us is responsible for the horrible things of the past. I feel no need to feel guilty for it.
    FYI, my family grows much of its own food, our home is almost paid for and we are not unemployed. We are the taxpayers who pay for the social programs and would be happy to see them eliminated. People need to be responsible for themselves and stop expecting everyone else to provide for their needs.

  • Alonzo
    February 20, 2010 at 7:26 pm

    I too am a taxpayer. I, and my fellow taxpayers pay for all the Earned Income Tax Credits and social services received by all those working poor, including some Latinos who were the beneficiaries of the last amnesty. It’s a fact that without the millions of Latino and other taxpayers, the working poor would not get a dime of support.
    I do not support Evelyn’s manic and vicious race based castigation of Americans of any ethnic group, white or otherwise. I find her divisiveness and bitterness towards people who weren’t responsible for past events non-productive, no, make that counterproductive. This country cannot survive if such attitudes become prevalent. She is poison to this blog, so I’m puzzled as to why she is tolerated.

  • irma
    February 23, 2010 at 1:42 pm

    Cookie,
    I was being sarcastic . I actually reject the classification of human beings by skin color . You see, I happen to know a lot of about biology. It seems ridiculous and stupid to classify people by skin color, since people from anywhere are basically
    the same. if we were that different, we could not mate. Humans for example cannot mate with other animals. At the DNA level, human beings have the same genes ( about 25,000 or so). Differences in hair and skin color are about as relevant as giftwrap is to a present. It is the INSIDE that counts.
    In fact, it is probably true to say that
    a lack of pigmentation in skin or hair,
    makes for a genetically weak human.
    Dark hair and skin provide protection against the sun. Dark skin is also thicker and doesnt wrinkle as easily.
    It is my prediction that in time, if man
    survives – in a few hundred thousand years there will be no light skinned people. It is no accident, that most of the people in the world are not light skinned. In fact, most cancers affect
    those who tend to be pigmentally challenged.
    So, in my view – YOU are not white because I am not going to minimize who you are to a few layers of skin cells.
    You apparently have skin that is delicate. I suggest you stay away from the beach, wear sunscreen and a hat.
    In the end, your contribution to mankind, will come from the inside
    and will have nothing to do with your complexion.

  • irma
    February 23, 2010 at 10:06 pm

    Cookie,
    Technically , race is not a scientific term. You technically belong to the species, Homo Sapiens, if you must have a label. Biologists dont bother with subclassifications because the intra species differences are basically irrelevant. This is why – you are compatible from a mating point of view with all other human beings (Homo sapiens). If “white” people were really different from nonwhite people – they could not mate. Clearly, people of any color can produce offspring. You can also recieve blood or an organ from a compatible donor even if they dont have the same skin color as you.
    Your body won’t notice the difference in skin color that you seem to think is so important.
    Being Polish and Irish, is an cultural/ethnic categorization. Being “white” is like saying you are polka dot – it is a stupid classifcation based on an irrelevant trait. I have members of my family who have white skin, blue eyes and blonde hair and they are MEXICAN.
    They look that way because Mexicans are a mixture of peoples from all over the world.
    Ethnic categorization of people is much more useful – I think. Culture and language is what defines a person not
    skin. I would guess that you can speak neither Gaelic nor Polish. Have you been to either country? Do you know about the history and literature of these countries ? Surely there is more to you than the tone of your complexion?
    No, you are not white -Cookie.
    I know that the color of your skin is not who you are. Sadly, it would appear that you think, this is your defining asset.

  • Evelyn
    February 24, 2010 at 11:23 am

    Texan123 :
    Evelyn,
    You really need to seek help for your hatred. It is consuming you from the inside out.
    ~~~
    Dont you think it’s hypocritical to accuse me of being consumed by hate when it is YOU who are a member of a hate group? YOU are a member of ALIPAC, below is the link explaining why they are classified as hate group.
    The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which monitors extremist groups and their rhetoric with regard to the immigration debate, has exposed a new development where some of the more mainstream anti-immigrant groups increasingly are adopting the tactics and rhetoric of racist groups and moving it into the mainstream. They have taken hateful and racist rhetoric and brought it into the mainstream.
    The groups highlighted in the ADL report include Mothers Against Illegal Aliens (Phoenix, AZ), the Federation for American Immigration Reform (Washington, DC), Choose Black America, You Don’t Speak for Me, Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee (Raleigh, NC), , aka ALIPAC……WOW

  • Evelyn
    February 24, 2010 at 11:49 am

    Alonzo :
    I do not support Evelyn’s manic and vicious race based castigation of Americans of any ethnic group, white or otherwise. I find her divisiveness and bitterness towards people who weren’t responsible for past events non-productive, no, make that counterproductive. This country cannot survive if such attitudes become prevalent. She is poison to this blog, so I’m puzzled as to why she is tolerated.
    ~~~
    Alonzo what you call, “Evelyn’s manic and vicious race based castigation of Americans,”is public knolodge. It is written in any credable History book.
    Are Professors to blame for the atrocities comitted by Hitler because they speak about the dispicable acts he comitted? Should we refer to the holocaust as, “Professor (insert name) manic and vicious race based castigation of Nazi Germany?”
    No one likes to be reminded of these atrocities, but if we become complacent and say nothing when people today speak and act the same as those who comitted those atrocities, then it simpily means we are in agreement with them.
    Are you in agreement with the people who hit the twin towers? Should you be silenced because you might offend terrorists who are plotting and planning to do it all over again when you speak about it? NO!
    Now can you see how lame your argument is? What I may be, is POISON to your agenda. That is why you want to silence me. I am not however poison to this blog.

  • cookie
    February 24, 2010 at 3:01 pm

    Irma, nothing you stated does not negate the fact that there are different race catagories. I am in the white catagory. If there is no such thing as race then when Evelyn claims that “white” people are all evil then why haven’t you jumped in and said there is no such thing as race? I place no particular importance on what race I am, it just is what I am. Nothing more and nothing less. You are the one making an issue out of it. Race doesn’t necessarily denote a certain skin color and I have never mentioned what color my skin is only what race I am! There are people of the white race with very light to darker skin and those of the black race with those same skin tones. I don’t know what you think you are trying to prove here. It isn’t about skin color but race.
    I am of Polish and Irish ancestry. Those are nationalities, not race nor skin colors and no I have never been to either of those countries but I do know their history. What is the point of that line of thought or questioning anyway?
    Again, I am white by race. My skin color has nothing to do with it nor do I consider it an asset nor a liability. It is just who I am genetically. You obviously are very lacking in understanding what genetics are. Geez, they even teach that in elementary school for God’s sake!

  • cookie
    February 25, 2010 at 1:28 pm

    Alonzo,
    Evelyn’s choice of the Nazi example is an interesting one. Yes, historical events are what they are. However, what Evelyn just can’t seem to grasp is how wrong it is to single out ONLY the negative history of a people/nation/culture and pound away at it day after day for the express purpose of demonizing said people/nation/culture.
    For example, yes Hitler and the Nazis existed and their part in bringing about WW2 is well documented, as well as the atrocities committed by them. However, if I were to ONLY throw the Nazis in present-day Germans’ faces, including those born long AFTER WW2, as though this is the ONLY part of their history and heritage that ever existed, my motives would be completely transparent. The German people are MUCH MORE than their history vis a vis HITLER! To pretend otherwise would be rightfully seen as being anti-German and bigoted.
    This is what Evelyn does. She only picks out the parts of history which demonizes Europeans who came to this nation to advance her political agenda. It matters not to her whether the targets of her bigotry (whites) are descendants of those who came on the Mayflower, or if they immigrated last year. They only need to have one characteristic to incur Evelyn’s wrath and vicious castigation: white skin, European ancestry. This is blatantly bigoted and racist and yet Evelyn cannot see it because she sees herself as some noble masked crusader for “justice and equality.” (For mostly one group of people, however.)
    Evelyn completely goes off the rails because she equates things like the Holocaust in Germany or past historical conflicts, injustices, slavery, etc., with a modern-day nation doing nothing but enforcing its immigration laws as every other modern nation does–including the nations from which the majority of the illegals hail! This bit of irony is not lost on most of us.
    In reality, there is NO COMPARISON between Jim Crow laws, slavery, the Holocaust, or any other historical atrocity with a nation–any nation–enforcing its immigration laws, protecting its borders and sovereignty.
    Today this nation allows very generous immigration from all over the world. Latinos are second in legal immigration to the U.S. only to the Chinese. There is very little immigration these days from Europe. This makes any comparison to Nazi Germany, slavery, segregation, or any other past historical injustice even doubly specious.
    Evelyn is barking up the wrong tree when she continues to harp on the past and attempts to bully Americans of all races and ethnic backgrounds into getting her way. She is the one making it a racial issue, forgetting that our nation in the 21st century is one of the most diverse in the world. We simply are not living in the 1600s or the 1800s any longer; however, Evelyn still is.

  • irma
    February 25, 2010 at 6:23 pm

    Cookie,
    I challenge you to find any credible scientific reference to a racial category termed “white.”
    Race by the way, is a term coined by a
    pseudoscience , anthropology.
    The term race doesnt exist in the real biological sciences such as genetics.
    By the way, all human beings originated in Africa from the same people. Over time, people who migrated away from Africa, lost some of their pigmentation. All people are variants of that ancient African ancestor, who probably had black skin.
    Or if you prefer-all people originated from one man and one woman.
    Their names were Adam and Eve.
    If we all came from the same source, then why are you so insistent on
    trying to divide us by swallowing
    the racist categorizations created by
    some anthropologist whose science has long been discredited?
    I referred to Poland and Ireland because you used them to justify your claim to being “white.” I would say that being Polish or Irish is more than citizenship. It is also cultural. I am sure that in both Ireland and Poland, there are people with black skin who
    are ethnically more Irish or Polish than you.
    Evelyn, by the way uses the term “white” simply because that is is a term used by the general public. I dont agree that she thinks that “white ” people are evil. She simply pointed out that there is a long history of
    Europeans taking advantage of
    native peoples all over the world including the United States.

  • Texan123
    February 26, 2010 at 1:37 pm

    If the U.S is full of such hateful, arrogant, blood thirsty Europeans, why would so many Latinos want to live here?
    My family has traveled to Mexico to help build orphanages,dig sewage ditches. This was FREE, paid for by American taxpayers who DONATED money. When has Mexico ever donated money to help poor Americans?
    This country has always stood by Mexico. Our tax money helps fight against the drug cartels. We send medicine and doctors when swine flu breaks out, or earthquake disasters. We have tried to be a good neighbor. It is the Mexicans and Latin Americans who come to steal from this country. Yes, you steal, and then claim that what you stole should have been yours to begin with. You have taught a slanted view of History. You try to justify your bad deeds by first begging for compassion for you children. When that is not enough, you plead for a better life. If that does not provide all you want you start trying to make the U.S feel guilty for all the horrors of the past, as if we had any control of those actions. Every effort to control immigration is to you a travasty of humanity. It is people like Evelyn and Dan that turn Americans against Latinos and other illegal immigrants.
    I read some comments on several websites, pro and com. I have been looking for valid arguements as to why illegal immigrants deserve the same rights as legal immigrants. I haven’t found it yet. Often what I find are those who hate this country, its history, its founders, and the success it has. As long as Latinos refuse to respect this nation and its people of all races, it will never be truly united.

  • Evelyn
    February 28, 2010 at 12:32 pm

    Texan123
    This country is not full of, hateful, arrogant, blood thirsty Europeans, there are only a few.
    Most, hateful, arrogant, blood thirsty Europeans, you speak of are members of hate groups like the minutemen, ALIPAC and such. I think togather with KKK, Stormfront and other domestic terrorist groups that spew hate there may be one hundred thousand.
    Most are older and wish for youth and things to be the way they were in the 50ies and 60ies. They dont accept change. They live off SS and sit around all day on Blogs demonizing immigrants and Hispanics. Very hate-filled little bunch.
    All credable polls show most Americans want immigrants to be put on a path to citizenship and our broken immigration system fixed.

  • Texan123
    March 2, 2010 at 10:00 am

    Evelyn,
    Would you agree that the part of our immigration system that needs repair the most is the part that allows 12-20 million illegal immigrants to live and work here? How will we ever know if Islamic terrorists are living in our community if we have no enforcible immigration law? We must know who is crossing the border and make it difficult for the undocumented to live and work here without detection.
    What do you think will happen if the next major attack comes from immigrants who came in from Mexico?

  • Evelyn
    March 4, 2010 at 9:48 am

    Texan123
    I believe our broken immigration system needs repair the most in the following order. I also believe that in order for our immigration laws to be fixed they must all be passed togather. If we implement only 1 part of CIR now, and leave the rest for later we are only putting a band aid on the problem and it may be at monetary expense to Americans and more suffering to immigrants. In the end it will accomplish nothing, just as the border wall of shame has accomplished nothing.
    Out of that twenty million illegal immigrants you mention, I believe about half would actually qualify for the biometric card and about 7 million would complete the rigorous 5 year waiting period and gathering 5 thousand dollars, learning English, and not having a criminal record needed to go on and become a citizen. The current immigration system is wasting tax payer dollars by the millions and not helping anyone. It is a lose lose situation. Like a revolving door. CIR would eliminate this waste.
    1. We must have a biometric card that can read an immigrants pupils or finger prints to identify whether or not that person is eligible for employment. Immigrants have to support themselves so they need jobs. If employers had a way of telling for sure if a prospective worker is the person standing in front of him and if said person is eligible to work — most of immigration problems would be solved. Biometric cards do that and they are included in CIR. People who are not eligible for this card, (due to past criminal offences) would self deport because they would be unable to support themselves.
    Illegal immigration would stop when immigrants see that employers cannot hire them without a biometric card. Jobs are the attraction and main reason immigrants come to the U.S. Another advantage for America is that by registering the immigrants who are not paying taxes and getting them into the system creates billions of dollars in tax money immigrants will pay.
    2. ICE would be free to go after terrorists, drug runners, and criminals, instead of nannies, dishwashers, and fruit pickers. The tax dollars we waste on beds in jails to house these people could be saved. Ice could also go after employers who in the beginning might think they can get away with hiring immigrants whose status is illegal.
    3. A realistic temporary worker program for seasonal workers and menial jobs Americans refuse to do should take the place of all other temporary worker programs that allow employers to exploit, threaten and enslave immigrant workers, so employers can have the workers they need here in America. Keeping jobs Americans wont do, but immigrants will do here in America — enhances and creates good paying jobs Americans will do.

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