By Citizen in Heart
LatinaLista
Citizen in Heart is a 21-year-old undocumented immigrant whose family came to this country when she was four years old. Though she was born in Mexico, she feels no different than her classmates, friends and neighbors who were born in the United States. In the following piece, Citizen in Heart describes how she feels and asks why there exists so much hatred towards people like her.
I am 21 years old and I was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, but Tucson, Arizona is my home.
My family and I came to the United States seventeen years ago. They brought me here when I was a child. I have always considered it a privilege to live in a nation that is greatly blessed by God.
Every day, I am so thankful to live here — even though many people say I don’t belong here because this land is theirs.
I say nobody owns this land, this earth. Wherever we may go, it does not matter if it is in China or Colombia, we are still on the same land, same planet, and same creation.
I say this not with anger but with sadness in my heart. See, many have labeled me as “Illegal†or “job stealer.â€
Why?
Because I do not have what they have — papers, social security number or citizenship?
Now, since I do not have these privileges as a citizen of the United States, I have to struggle to get a college degree.
This year in 2007, a new law has gone into effect that makes it impossible for me and millions of others like me to go farther with our education.
Proposition 300 makes undocumented students pay double or triple the tuition.
Can you imagine how much it will cost a semester?
It is impossible for me to raise enough money and pay such a high amount for one simple class. So far, I have taken two classes.
Thank God I did great.
The classes were so easy that I felt as if I were in high school again. I could not believe I was paying so much money for something I already knew. I paid $310.00 plus other fees.
Now if I go and apply for a three-credit class, I will pay double of what I paid before. If I get more credits, the higher I pay, and in the end many others like me will end up paying a greater amount than a citizen or a resident.
Why?
There are times when I get so frustrated and sad because I cannot get the money to pay for school. I try not to worry too much about myself or my future, but I do worry about the health and future of my parents and my brothers.
A good job that you can only get with a college degree would go a long way to helping my family and allowing us to get health insurance so my parents don’t have to worry whenever anyone of us gets sick.
Some of my friends say that in 2008 Proposition 300 will be removed — I pray that it is so I will be able to attend school again.
I don’t consider my going to school stealing from the nation. I would be busting my butt to get a higher education and contributing to this nation in which I have been raised.
The culture and customs of the United States are mine too.
But I know people, if they knew I didn’t have my papers, would look at me like I don’t belong here — in my heart, I do.
I used to feel sad all the time and had feelings of hopelessness whenever I thought about not being able to afford to go to school or how people talked about us, but then I said: “Lord let your will be done, my future is in your hands.â€
I know I’ll just have to wait and see what will happen with the elections of 2008. It is one election I will be looking forward to seeing who wins.
Editor’s Note: Proposition 300, passed by Arizona voters in November 2006, stipulates that college students who are not legal United States citizens or are without lawful immigration status must pay out-of-state tuition, and that persons who are not United States citizens and who are without lawful immigration status are not eligible for financial assistance using state money. The law requires that those who are not citizens or legal residents pay out-of-state tuition, which now is $90 per credit hour for students taking fewer than seven credit hours and $280 per credit hour for students taking seven or more credit hours. The in-state tuition rate is $65 per credit hour.
(Source: Maricopa Community Colleges)
Comment(31)
Frank
This is what is unfortunate when these kid’s parents violate our immigration laws and bring their young children here. They are looked down upon when it was their parents fault in the first place. I just have to wonder what their parents are teaching them about honesty and laws. They are not setting a good example for them.
I don’t know what the answer is. How are these kids going to get a job when they are finished with school with no documentation? Should we allow them to stay here just because their parents broke the law? These are some of the problems that are going to come up when people have no respect for the law. Too bad the parents didn’t think of these things and are putting their kids in harms way by doing what they did.
Horace
I feel sorry for her, but I hate her parents for what they did to her. I also hate the government of Mexico which fails to keep its people together. I also find it odd that Mexicans are so accepting of the failure of their government as to abstain from revolting. However, I find that blaming Americans for exercising their sovereign right as a nation distinctly different from that of Mexico is unfair. I do not find it unusual that Americans strongly resist Mexican interferrence in their internal affairs. Although it may seem mean, it is perfectly understandable that Americans feel solidarity as a people in defense of the efforts of outsiders to force change. Illegal aliens cannot expect to enter our country and then have us thank them for the insult. As indicated by their own laws, which are very punitive against illegal aliens, Mexicans are being very hypocritical in their criticisms of our enforcement efforts. Americans respect Mexico’s sovereign right to govern itself, and our government refrains from interfering in its affairs. All Americans wish is to be respected in return.
yave begnet
Good luck to you, Citizen in Heart. Here’s hoping the Dream Act gets passed and that AZ law gets revoked. The best way to speed those things along is for more legal immigrants to naturalize and vote, and for more citizens unhappy with the tenor of the immigration debate to make their voices heard, in particular at the ballot box.
Also, this could be a good time to reexamine our notions of citizenship. When stark lines of citizenship divide families and communities and thwart democracy, further empowering the powerful and maintaining an international class of the powerless, maybe the solution is not to simply try to expand the group of those who have U.S. citizenship. Maybe a better way forward is to think carefully about what citizenship means and why nationalism has replaced religion as the one universally accepted “truth” in America.
Frank
It is unfortunate that the parents of these illegal kids are suffering for their parents actions.
But to expect the American taxpayer to foot the bill for the education and healthcare for kids not legally in this country is unacceptable.
Frank
I agree, we need to re-think our notions of citizenship. Bill HR1940 seeks to do just that. To clarify and re-interpret the 14th Amendment, at least one parent has to be here legally in this country for their child to gain instant citizenship.
That way there is no seperation of families. Illegal parents can take their kids born on our soil back to their homelands with them because they won’t be U.S. citizens.
Don’t even get me started on the Dream Act. It is pure and utter nonsense and unfair to U.S. citizen kids.
dan cucich
I think we should welcome all Mexican immigrants- “legal” or not.
Because, The Holy Bible says in the Old Testament book of Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 34, says:
“But the stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” I am the Lord your God.” Enough said.
But, I’ll say more anyway:
Remember,you who don’t resopect Gods word, The Holy Bible:
Most of the American West, including most of these states: California, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona and New Mexico was stolen from their (The Mexicans)ancestors in deliberately provoked wars and subsequent coerced “sales” at a fraction of it’s worth by greedy imperialist US Presidents like James Polk.
I realize that we can’t go back and undo the past, because its impossible to “unscramble an egg”
But, the least we can do is be very kind and welcome the children of those from whom we stole the land, who come here in peace to work and contribute to our economy with their diligent work ethic and to feed their families. You would do the same were you in their shoes.
They are not “criminals” except to embittered and angry xenophobes and demagogs who stir up hatred against them.
I think it is truly ironic that we gave Japan and Germany back their lands after the war with those two nations ended.-but NOT Mexico. I think we are reaping what we sowed.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked.”
Dan Cucich
adriana
Quote from Horace:
“Americans respect Mexico’s sovereign right to govern itself, and our government refrains from interfering in its affairs. All Americans wish is to be respected in return.”
The US has been interfering and influencing politics in many Latin American countries for the past 150 years or so. We currently have DEA and CIA agents in Mexico. Large American based corporations are doing business there, influencing the lives of both American and Mexican citizens. There is even some evidence that we tinkered with most recent presidential election in Mexico, where Lopez Obredor, who was leading in all of the major polls right up until the election lost (a la Al Gore). How can you draw a line at the border and not think that the interference and influence stops there? Look at the historical interference over time, even going back 50 years.
Nonviolent Migration
One of the greatest fallacies is in the immigration debate is when we say “American taxpayer to foot the bill,” and thus mean to exclude the undocumented immigrant. All residents pay property tax, it cannot be avoided. All pay sales tax. And many pay income tax under a false Social Security Number. While it is true, some undocumented immigrants work under the table, millions of native-born residents work under the table too, but they do so while having a greater ability to choose not to.
Every time we create a legal distinction between undocumented immigrants and others, allowing the others access to services that the undocumented immigrant cannot access, we further the area of “taxation without representation.” Remind yourself that when Jefferson penned those words, the colonists did not have such a thing as income tax, which is the only tax that undocumented workers are accused of avoiding.
Frank
You conveniently forget that God also said to obey the laws of the land. Do you think that God would approve of illegal Mexicans or anyone else stealing jobs, identities, tax dollars from others? God does not look down on “just” laws and I am sure he wouldn’t admire cowards or law breakers either. Why can’t Mexicans fix Mexico?
You’re right, the past is the past and there was $15 million paid to Mexico for some of these lands and many debts forgiven. The descendants of them have no right to re-claim them nor are we obligated to take them in here illegally by the millions.
Ah, I see the race card has been pulled. Now you resort to name calling and false accusations about Americans who honor our immigration laws.
How nice of you to acknowledge the hard workers while ignoring the ones coming in here who are criminals or commit identity theft and other crimes after getting here. That is why we ask immigrants to come legally so we can check whether or not they are here to work, that we have a job for them while not taking one from an American or that they have a criminal record. And no, I would not violate anyone’s immigration laws, I would stay in my own country and make it better.
You must have failed history. The U.S. never owned or claimed either Japan or Germany as theirs nor did they fight to make them part of the U.S.
George
Begnet,
It would be more practical to promote the welfare of all nations of the world than for the world to adopt an open borders policy by which people would shift all over the world in response to disruptive social influences. Satisfied peoples don’t immigrate en masse. We only have to look to ourselves to believe in that. Open borders policies make it easier for people to abandon their homelands rather than face their difficulties head on and solve them. This country has had its problems, but it hasn’t been our tendency to emigrate. We are a nation of responsible citizens, whereas Mexicans and other Latin Americans have become nations of migrants.
George
Well, Dan, we do allow tens of thousands of Mexicans to immigrate to this country every year, on our terms. Mexicans just thumb their noses at us and demand more.
Anyway, as to Mexico’s former lands, a treaty was signed and money was exchanged, unlike Germany or Japan, where we merely occupied their territory and never considered ourselves owners. As you admitted, whining over the outcome of the Mexican-American War will do no good. Also, those Mexicans who decided to become citizens of the U.S. prospered, unlike those on the south side of the border. It just shows how different cultures produce different outcomes when opportunity arises. Mexico would be a better country today for its citizens if the U.S. had annexed Mexico. Giving the land back would just be a waste of time, as their plutocracy would just assure that their poor would get nothing by exploitation. I suggest that you expand your horizons a bit and not rely on the Bible as your sole source of history.
Horace
Good point George. Had Mexico won the Mexican-American War, Mexico would have had much larger territory, but it’s unlikely that the Mexican people would be any better off today. The Mexicans would be knocking on the Canadian border and making demands on the Canadians and calling them xenophobes and racists. The reconquistas love to blame theirs and the Mexican government’s plight on the more successful Americans, but the brutal truth is that cause of failure lies with the culture that rules from Tierra del Fuego to the northern border of Mexico. With few exceptions, the peoples of these nations have suffered under dictatorships, social injustice and corruption, while our nation became more prosperous and democratic. And now, when they’ve failed once again, they move north to claim the U.S. as theirs. On to Canada.
yave begnet
Mexico would be a better country today for its citizens if the U.S. had annexed Mexico. Giving the land back would just be a waste of time, as their plutocracy would just assure that their poor would get nothing by exploitation. I suggest that you expand your horizons a bit and not rely on the Bible as your sole source of history.
This stuff is impossible to parody. I feel like I’m reading the Onion, but no such luck.
Question: Do pro-immigrant bloggers comment as much on VDare and other anti-immigrant sites as restrictionists do here? Somehow I doubt it. Still, I’ve got to give them credit for persistence and sheer force of will, if not logic or coherent writing.
Frank
As far as legal immigration quotas go for the U.S., Mexicans are only second to Asians. Asians hold about a 32% quota and Mexicans at 28%. Asians probably have a higher percentage because they are mostly educated people. That leaves a 40% quota for everyone else. White Europeans have less than a 10% quota. So anyone who thinks that Mexicans don’t get a fair quota is misinformed or maybe they will only be happy if Mexicans get the majority of quotas.
yave begnet
Not sure where you’re getting your information, Frank, but you might want to check your sources.
First off, Asia is a continent; Mexico is a country.
Second, your numbers are way off. Here is the visa bulletin for September published by the State Department–it contains the total annual number of green cards made available: The Department of State has determined the family and employment preference numerical limits for FY-2007 in accordance with the terms of Section 201 of the INA. These numerical limitations for FY-2007 are as follows:
Worldwide Family-Sponsored preference limit: 226,000
Worldwide Employment-Based preference limit: 147,148
Under INA Section 202(a), the per-country limit is fixed at 7% of the family and employment annual limits. For FY-2007 the per-country limit is 26,120.
So, as the visa bulletin explains, the total number of immigrant visa numbers the government is making available in Fiscal Year 2007 (an immigrant visa number can be used to obtain a green card, provided the applicant is not otherwise ineligible) is 373,148. Applicants from any single country can only take up to 7% of the total number, which is 26,120. The highest possible percentage of visa numbers available to Mexicans this year is 7%, not 28%. This is why processing of petitions for Mexicans is backed up 16 years for unmarried adult children of U.S. citizens, 17 years for siblings of U.S. citizens, and almost 20 years for married adult children of U.S. citizens. Also, due to large numbers of visa petitions from Mexico, Mexicans are ineligible for the Diversity Visa lottery.
So yes, as a practical matter, it is much more difficult to get a visa as a Mexican than almost anyone else, although Philipinos, Chinese, and Indians also have it bad. If you are an unskilled Mexican with no family in the U.S., it’s pretty much impossible to get a visa.
Frank
I read the statistics I provided some time ago and I can’t recall the source but it was a government one. If I find it again I will post it here.
If what you say is true, then Mexico is getting it’s fair share of visas atleast by country.
I don’t know of any anti-immigrant sites but I do know of some that are anti-illegal alien sites. Are you confusing the two?
Restrictionists? What does that mean? I do believe we need to restrict immigration based on our capacity to handle additional population growth, assimilate immigrants and provide jobs for them. Is that wrong? Or are you giving immigrants priority over what is in the best interests of this country and it’s citizens?
yave begnet
I don’t know whether “restrictionist” is a label that anti-illegal immigrant organizations have used in reference to themselves, but it’s less cumbersome than “anti-illegal immigrant organizations” and more specific than “patriot” or “American” or whatever other labels might be used instead. I actually don’t often visit VDare or other restrictionist sites, so I’m not certain on this point. Perhaps I should educate myself.
I think it’s clear that you and I have different definitions of what’s in the best interest of this country and its citizens. For instance, I think the current rate of U.S. population growth is more economically healthy than the rates of growth in, for example, Japan or Italy. Differing immigration policies are largely responsible for these differing rates. I think there are enough jobs for citizens and for immigrants, as can be seen by the severe labor shortages the agriculture industry is facing. Concerns about slow assimilation of recent immigrants have been voiced throughout our country’s history, back to when we were a British colony. Contemporary news accounts from the Irish and Mediterranean waves of immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries are rife with complaints about how the new arrivals were criminals and weren’t assimilating fast enough. Look back beyond that to the same reaction to the Germans, etc. etc. The dynamic of the debate has changed little, only the nationalities have changed. That makes me doubt that the complaints today are any more valid than they were 100, 200, or 300 years ago.
More broadly, though, I believe individuals should have the right to travel, work, and live outside of their home country regardless of their nationality. We take that right for granted–if an American works at a company that gives her the opportunity to work in Buenos Aires or Hong Kong, of course we assume that the American can take the position and resettle abroad. If Americans want to vacation in Italy or Zambia, they don’t think twice about it. That is because our country is rich and powerful. But if Americans found their right to travel or work abroad curtailed, they might not be so happy. Put yourself in someone’s shoes who has to sneak across the border in order to travel or work abroad.
Out of curiosity, when did your ancestors settle in the U.S.? Mine mostly came 160 years ago with the Mormon migrations from the British Isles. So I’m a relative newcomer. The Mormons, even though many were U.S. citizens (the distinction had much less relevance then) faced forced migrations from one state to the next to the next. Who knows when we, as Americans, might have to emigrate again due to war, global warming, or some other unforeseen event? It’s not inconceivable. Then we would really value the right to travel freely.
Nonviolent Migration
Wow!
Yave,
Another person who believes “individuals should have the right to travel, work, and live outside of their home country regardless of their nationality.” And with Mormon ancestry too. Pretty crazy.
Where did you find the information on the backlogs from Mexico? I have looked, but unsuccessfully. I would like that data for an article I wrote on my blog. (http://nonviolentmigration.wordpress.com/2007/07/31/us-quota-system/)
Does no one want to respond to the tax fallacy?
Frank
So because there are countries that have a worse population problem than ourselves we should follow suit for the future? We have a population driven economy. That is not good. We would be a much healthier and happier country with a smaller economy to fit a smaller poopulation for all the reasons I mentioned already. If we have labor shortages in the Ag industry then we can import temporary foreign workers or automate. I don’t have a problem with that. We we do not have an overall labor shortage in most employment areas.
As far as the assimilaton issue, never before in the history of this country have we ever had so many illegal aliens from mostly one country or ethnic group. They are colonizing, not assimilating. I don’t know where you live but I live in the southwest and there are entire cities that have been taken over by illegal aliens mostly from Mexico and their supporters. I hear more Spanish than English spoken anymore. That doesn’t sound like assimilation to me.
I have no problem with anyone working or living in another country other than their own in accordance with the immigration laws of that country. All countries have immigration laws or have you fogotten that? Mexico enforces it’s immigration laws just like all countries do.
My ancestors came thru Ellis Island. And no, know one has the right to travel freely anywhere in the world without the necessary papers, nor should they. Do you also think you should have the right to enter anyone elses home without their permission?
yave begnet
know one has the right to travel freely anywhere in the world without the necessary papers, nor should they.
The “necessary papers” are those that are required by laws that are written and enforced by elected officials.
Rule of law and liberalized travel are not necessarily mutually exclusive: it all depends on what the law is. I’m not saying there should be no laws governing travel–I’m a liberal, not an anarchist.
Do you also think you should have the right to enter anyone elses home without their permission?
It’s not that simple: the homeowner in your analogy is not a unitary entity, but a disparate collective. Picture a foreign entrant to a house occupied by a large extended family all with different views about the entrant and his goals and intentions. Dad invites the entrant into the house and pays him to reupholster the carpet. Then granny starts taking pot shots at him from the balcony with her shotgun. Little sister offers him sanctuary in the bathroom and locks the door. Big brother waits outside with cuffs to go lock him up in the basement and boot him back out on the street. At the end of all this, the entrant is left more than a little confused.
Like I said, it’s not as simple as you make it out to be.
yave begnet
Oh, also to Nonviolent Migration: the backlogs are listed in the visa bulletin I linked to above. Read the chart near the top in conjunction with the explanation of the family-based preference categories that precedes it.
Frank
That is why a democracy works. The majority rules so the family household scenario can be played out just like the democracy of a country. Rules are made by majority vote and followed by all whether they like it or not.
Horace
To Adriana:
“We currently have DEA and CIA agents in Mexico.”
Yes adriana, this is a mutally beneficial arrangement to combat drugs and terrorists. To use this as a case of unwanted “interference” that injures Mesic is simply wrong.
“Large American based corporations are doing business there, influencing the lives of both American and Mexican citizens.”
These corporations are employing Mexicans, a benefit to Mexico and not likely having nefarious repercussions.
“There is even some evidence that we tinkered with most recent presidential election in Mexico, where Lopez Obredor, who was leading in all of the major polls right up until the election lost……”
Do have evidence or is this just rumormongoring?
You picked some pretty specious arguments with which to criticize our presence in Mexico.
And what does 50 years ago have to do with the requirement to respect the sensibilities of the U.S. citizen. Most Americans judge Mexico and it’s citizens actions as signs of disrespect. And they’re correct. If the U.S. were treating Mexican sovereignty with such abuse there would be riots at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. Mexico demonstrates its macho intolerance of foreigners every day in their treatment of illegal aliens from El Salvador, Guatamala, etc., but then hypocritically claim that our border fence is an insult. How does that go, “Do unto others as….”
Horace
To yave:
“It’s not that simple: the homeowner in your analogy is not a unitary entity, but a disparate collective. Picture a foreign entrant to a house occupied by a large extended family all with different views about the entrant and his goals and intentions. Dad invites the entrant into the house and pays him to reupholster the carpet. Then granny starts taking pot shots at him from the balcony with her shotgun. Little sister offers him sanctuary in the bathroom and locks the door. Big brother waits outside with cuffs to go lock him up in the basement and boot him back out on the street. At the end of all this, the entrant is left more than a little confused.
Like I said, it’s not as simple as you make it out to be.”
It’ as simple a Frank makes it out to be.
The house that Frank refers to has established rules that everyone is obligated to follow, and subject to punitive action should they elect not to do so. The rules of the house are the collective will of the people in the house, and as far as I can tell, although there are some living in the house that are disgruntled about the rules, the rules still stand as law.
Granny or big brother cannot elect to impose different rules on the intruder.
Although you may disagree with immigration law, that doesn’t mean that ethnic factions in this country have the right to disobey or subvert them.
yave begnet
Although you may disagree with immigration law, that doesn’t mean that ethnic factions in this country have the right to disobey or subvert them.
Businesses often, knowingly or should-have-knowingly, disobey or subvert the immigration laws. Sometimes this is because full compliance with the labyrinthine employment laws is next to impossible for small business owners. Sometimes it’s because the laws don’t make sense and hence aren’t enforced.
The government has failed to deport 12 million people it knows are here. In many cases, it knows where they are living because they have provided that information to the government in an attempt to normalize their status. Does this mean the government has disobeyed and subverted the law? Has the elected government of Hazelton, PA, disobeyed and subverted the federal immigration laws it has trampled? Which law should be enforced when laws conflict?
Immigration law is a messy patchwork of contradictory, loopholed, special-interest laden statutes and regulations unevenly implemented by bureaucrats with minimal oversight and inadequate funding. Abuse of power and ignorance or misinterpretation of statute is rampant at USCIS. ICE, the DOJ, and the federal courts are so overwhelmed they sporadically
and ineffectively enforce the law.
It’s not as easy as just saying “enforce the law.” You’re trying to reduce something complicated to something very simple. There’s no magic bullet to resolve the fundamental disagreements over immigration our country faces.
Frank
The point is that Americans want immigration laws and they want them enforced. Take the corruption of our government and businesses out of the picture. We are a democratic country where the majority rules and we don’t go along with any infraction of our laws, even by our government officials.
Our immigraton laws are neither unfair nor are they unjust nor are they complicated. It is just that many of the powers that be decided they could ignore these laws for their own personal gain and get away with it. Well no more. Americans are awake and fed up with it.
Horace
“The government has failed to deport 12 million people it knows are here. In many cases, it knows where they are living because they have provided that information to the government in an attempt to normalize their status. Does this mean the government has disobeyed and subverted the law?”
Actually, the government has been complicit in illegal immigration by its politicians deliberately failing to finance law enforcment efforts. Laws mean nothing without the capability to back them up. The government does a disservice to the people when it fails to keep its promises.
“Has the elected government of Hazelton, PA, disobeyed and subverted the federal immigration laws it has trampled?”
I find no evidence that Hazleton subverted the law. Hazleton’s actions are commensurate with immigration law in that it sought the exclusion of illegal aliens from its community, just as the immigration laws seek to deport illegal aliens from this country. Hazleton did not seek to determine who was or wasn’t an illegal alien, but simply stated as its goal the removal of illegal aliens once they had been established as being such. Munley was wrong in his ruling, as he based it upon cases such as Henderson v. Mayor which categorized immigrants as commerce, when they clearly aren’t. Check the case out and judge for yourself. Should the Supreme nine review H v M today, I have no doubt that the City of New York would win and they’d collect their levy on arriving immigrants. NY was merely trying to collect funds from the arriving vessels as a hedge against some of the poor Irish becoming public wards, for whom they’d become responsible.
The argument that immigration is the sole provence of the federal government isn’t born out in the Constitution, which only grants the federal government the right to establish naturalization laws. Immigration and naturalization are two different issues. While it woud seem prudent to centralize control over immigration, great ideas are worth nothing without actual power having been endowed to them. As the Constitution says, those powers not plenary to the federal government are held by the citizen and the states. Such is the case of immigration. The Supreme Court cannot legislate without usurping power from the Congress, but that’s what they did under Henderson v Mayor and in Plyler v. Doe, when they assigned the right to an education to illegal aliens.
Alex
I am so saddened by the comments that I see here. I am saddened to hear the words “hate” because that is such a strong word. Do you really hate? If you do, then you do not belong in the United States or anywhere else in this world. That is why the world is in its current situation because there is so much hatred. We are all human beings and we all have needs. There should be no borders only one huge world. We all need to get along before we set off that nuclear button and destroy all mankind. Look deep in your hearts and look really deep to realize how you would feel if you were one of these individuals who is trying to better themselves or just survive. We as Americans have truly forgotten that we all not all native americans and that we came from some place else. I am part native american and I say that we should assist the 11 or 12 millions individuals that are living here to assimilate into our society. So remember when you use the word: “hate” it is a very strong word that should be used very sparingly. I wish for the individuals strugglng to be a part of the US the best and my prayers are with all of you. I know individuals personally and they are loving, caring, productive people who truly deserve the opportunities that we have all been afforded.
Frank
Why can’t they find those opportunities in their own countries? I have no respect for cowards who don’t seek to change their lives without resorting to breaking laws to do so. What about how these illegals are effecting American lives? Guess you don’t care about them. Do you think that the whole world’s poor should all be crammed into the U.S.? Think man, think! We cannot support a population of that magnitude.
Philip
I just love it when someone brings up Ellis Island. I will be posting an editorial on Ellis Island on htt://www.ptlia.com
very soon.
I hope you read it so the romantic images will be replaced by facts.
Horace
Phillip writes for one of those web sites sponsored by U.S. companies that are lobbying for more “immigrants” to replace citizens because they’ll work for lower wages. He’s either a useful idiot dupe or in collusion with them. If you take a good look at his sponsors out, they likely hire illegal aliens.
This industry is notorious for exploitin illegal aliens:
American Apparel – Los Angeles, CA
clothing manufacturer, distributer and sales
Who are they trying to kid?:
Benchmark Landscapers – San Diego, CA
landscape services and design
Please!:
Bravo Supermarkets – CENTERAL, FL
retail grocery stores
Again, please!:
Gallo Wines – Sonoma, CA
wine and spirits manufacturer
You’ve got to be kidding!: R. Sanchez and Sons Inc. – Bluff, IL
landscaping design and maintenance
Meat packer. Name one that doesn’t hire illegal aliens:
Seaboard Corp – Guymon, OK
Pork Products
These are associations of illegal alien employers:
America Farm Bureau – Washington, D.C.
An independent non governmental organization, that works to improve life for farm workers and farmers.
American Nursery Landscape Association – Washington, D.C.
Nation trade association for the nursery and landscape industry; members are mostly small, family owned business.
California Farm Bureau – Sacramento, CA
non government, non profit corporation that tries to promote and protect the agricultural community.
National Restaurant Association – Washington, D.C.
Members include restaurant chains, franchisees, independent operators, suppliers and distributors. The association’s goal is to inform, promote and protect the hotel and restaurant industry.
Phillip, you lie down with dogs and you wake up with fleas. These associations stop just short of confessing to complicity in employing illegal aliens, and some of their members have been raided and managers jailed for knowingly hiring illegal aliens.
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