Since immigration policy or lack thereof has been on the news- lots of people have been talking about it incessantly; mostly around work where a lot of us spend long hours with people we wouldn’t necessarily hang out with otherwise. It’s amusing to hear some of the conversations though. Specially the part when the speaker censors him/herself depending on who is standing by the proverbial water cooler. If there are “Latinos” around then, they don’t say things like “they should all go back to where they came from”- the person abstains from giving a forceful opinion.
I was sitting at my neighborhood bar last Sunday, day of the Lord, and this guy was saying how all “they” want is free services and welfare and all that. How misinformed can you possibly be? Where do these “facts” come from? I couldn’t resist- I had to jump in and tell him that that was not in fact what these demonstrations have been about at all. All- most of the undocumented immigrants- want by and large is to be able to work without having to continually worry about whether “la migra” is coming for them that day or the next. Furthermore, what brought on these demonstrations was the passing of the bill that says that any undocumented person within the U.S is now a felon. I used to work in a Doctor’s office in a highly immigrant area of town in Atlanta. The Doctor was Chinese; his clientele was made up of Korean, Vietnamese and Spanish people, relatively new to the U.S. The majority of these people paid cash. Every time.
Granted, there are many mothers I’ve seen using the WIC program for their children born here, but there are also a large number of undocumented people paying federal, state, Medicare and social security taxes into a pot they will never collect from. This should more than cover the services other undocumented immigrants are dipping into. Speaking strictly of Mexican immigrants, I remember reading about a program between the U.S. and Mexico in the 1940’s for guest workers, where millions of dollars were placed into some sort of trust that these workers were supposed to be able to collect from after their term in the U.S. ended and those funds were never paid out. Where is that money? Where is the money these people using false documentation are paying? Where is the money employers are matching for these false documents?
Why are we only focusing on the one side of this story? Why, with all the available information out there, are we still relying on sources whose only purpose is to divide, inflame and wrongly sway public opinion? Is it really human nature I wonder?
GH’s co-worker just informed him that she is boycotting “Cinco De Mayo.” This in solidarity with all real Americans I suppose, to “show that America’s still in charge,” she said. That’s right; don’t drink any margaritas or tequila shots. Don’t get wasted at your local Mexican joint, that’ll show ‘em! Fuckin’ Messicans.
Yes, America is great, there are great people here, and it is a great country where opportunity abounds. But we didn’t get here through all good means. How we got here isn’t as simple as building a 700’ wall. It isn’t as easy as rounding them all up and placing them on outbound planes, buses and trains. It is a long, at times unpleasant history that cannot be ignored. It is, at the risk of sounding dramatic, destiny. What else did we expect to happen?
I was sitting at my neighborhood bar last Sunday, day of the Lord, and this guy was saying how all “they” want is free services and welfare and all that. How misinformed can you possibly be? Where do these “facts” come from? I couldn’t resist- I had to jump in and tell him that that was not in fact what these demonstrations have been about at all. All- most of the undocumented immigrants- want by and large is to be able to work without having to continually worry about whether “la migra” is coming for them that day or the next. Furthermore, what brought on these demonstrations was the passing of the bill that says that any undocumented person within the U.S is now a felon. I used to work in a Doctor’s office in a highly immigrant area of town in Atlanta. The Doctor was Chinese; his clientele was made up of Korean, Vietnamese and Spanish people, relatively new to the U.S. The majority of these people paid cash. Every time.
Granted, there are many mothers I’ve seen using the WIC program for their children born here, but there are also a large number of undocumented people paying federal, state, Medicare and social security taxes into a pot they will never collect from. This should more than cover the services other undocumented immigrants are dipping into. Speaking strictly of Mexican immigrants, I remember reading about a program between the U.S. and Mexico in the 1940’s for guest workers, where millions of dollars were placed into some sort of trust that these workers were supposed to be able to collect from after their term in the U.S. ended and those funds were never paid out. Where is that money? Where is the money these people using false documentation are paying? Where is the money employers are matching for these false documents?
Why are we only focusing on the one side of this story? Why, with all the available information out there, are we still relying on sources whose only purpose is to divide, inflame and wrongly sway public opinion? Is it really human nature I wonder?
GH’s co-worker just informed him that she is boycotting “Cinco De Mayo.” This in solidarity with all real Americans I suppose, to “show that America’s still in charge,” she said. That’s right; don’t drink any margaritas or tequila shots. Don’t get wasted at your local Mexican joint, that’ll show ‘em! Fuckin’ Messicans.
Yes, America is great, there are great people here, and it is a great country where opportunity abounds. But we didn’t get here through all good means. How we got here isn’t as simple as building a 700’ wall. It isn’t as easy as rounding them all up and placing them on outbound planes, buses and trains. It is a long, at times unpleasant history that cannot be ignored. It is, at the risk of sounding dramatic, destiny. What else did we expect to happen?
1 comment:
At least they get to watch Shrek on their return trip - thats what I heard.
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