The right to pursue our life's goals and interests is an inalienable right. Our founding father's sought to enable us to be governed by a leadership that keeps chaos and anarchy at bay while not infringing upon our ability to complete what we want in life. The pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness is no easy road. It takes a lot out of us and it sometimes compromises our rational thoughts. Illegal immigration is such an endeavor. When individual's belonging to another country wish for a better life the thought of waiting months, even years to obtain citizenship is too long. We, as citizens of this country by birth have no idea what it is like. We are not on the outside looking in. But once upon a time some of our ancestors arrived here illegally, (they did have a legal charter from the King of England but how do you own land that already belongs to the individuals who are already here?) and as an escape for their religious beliefs. I am of course referring to the pilgrims who landed in Massachusetts.
We all know the story, they were being persecuted for their Puritan beliefs so they decided to gather their livelihood, their families and with the help of investors they decided to ask the King for a charter for land, in what is now Virginia, and they set sail in multiple ships, but they had to condense down into one, the Mayflower, because the other ships were leaking. So, I didn't know all of these details but I found them out, just like I didn't know all the circumstances behind he new law in Arizona against illegal immigrants. The gist of it is that it allows members of law enforcement broad discretion against determining whether or not an individual belongs to this country. In other words, it allows law enforcement to openly and legally stereotype against Hispanics. Despite the fact that the law stipulates that if any individual appears to not belong in this country legally needs to be removed and deported immediately. The problem is that a majority of the individuals living in Arizona are Hispanic and therefore they became the new targets of this law. It is unfair and it needs to be revoked. I understand that the kidnappings that occur in Arizona are for the most part involved with illegal immigrants but this affects every other Hispanic as well. This law was put into action with the best intentions but it appears that its original purpose was just a mincing of words to increase the likelihood of its passage. As a country we need to not be hypocritical because when we arrived we were not supposed to be going any further then the established border between Native American lands and the colonies. But since there was a legitimate reason for the Arizona it appears that it will be around for some time.
I agree with your beliefs on the new Arizona law. I believe this law is slowly taking away privacy from the people. We all know that bad things were happening there, and indeed, it was a problem cause by many illegal immigrants. This situation should not have cause this law, I believe this was completely taken out of hand. I think this is going to be the beginning of the government wanting to take more control over the people. I’m sure that many legal Hispanics that live in Arizona are wondering why they are always getting carded and other things to be checked if they are legal. This is discrimination against a minority and it needs to stop. At one point everyone came from migrating ancestors and it is unfair that they are against it now. People really need to sit back and think about their own families history before starting to point any fingers. There have also been many immigrants who have done great things for this country but some Americans fail to recognize this when judging immigrants. It as if they only want to point out the bad instead of the good in people. This is just ridiculously unfair.
ReplyDeleteYou have made some very good points that would be hard to argue against. This issue affects a lot of people. It not only affects the Hispanics that live in Arizona in certain areas, but also the Native Americans that live on the reservations. One reservation that my mother grew up on, crosses into Mexico, and into the southern part of California. A lot of families have been split up because they live on the Mexico side of the reservation. A lot of Native Americans are being deported to Mexico because they have lived on the reservation and grew up there, needing medical attention after many years of never needing to leave the reservation, not having the right documentation and not speaking English when they get to the medical facility that was their goal. This issue has been around and you are right about the possibility of it being around for a long time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you are right about those of us who are citizens not knowing what it is like to go through what some immigrants have to go through. Waiting so long to become a citizen, but also having to learn new laws and abide by them with having to become a citizen having to learn what it is to be an American.
I have always thought that the ones to blame on illegal immigration are not the immigrants themselves, but the poorly run governments from the countries in which they flee from. I would like to think that my parents would do the same for me, and I think they would. As would I if I new my kids could either live in poverty, or they could go to America where they could be given an opportunity to pursue happiness. It makes no sense that San Diego is geographically identical to Tijuana, yet San Diego is full of opportunities and money, while Tijuana is riddled with poverty and crime. I completely understand where you are coming from, you seem do have a strong opinion about this issue and it deals with your heritage. However I have a much different opinion on this matter, and I am not saying which one is right, I am just saying we disagree. The Arizona Law is more or less a last resort. Phoenix is the Kidnapping capital of the United States, mainly due to drug cartels, which are coming here from Mexico, illegally. Cops are not going to pull over every Hispanic person and ask them for papers; in fact the law has strict regulations preventing racial profiling. The fact of the matter is the Arizona government needed to stop the drugs and crime from coming through U.S. borders at all costs, and they felt this would be the best solution.
ReplyDeleteI understand and agree with some of your points. I have ancestors that fit both categories of historical immigrants: some came from Europe to what became Jamestown, Virginia, and others were brought there illegally from West Africa. Also, I cannot forget about those who were already there and were virtually exterminated, which was a sanctioned but illegal act, at least from a moral perspective. So all of my ancestry, as well as that of the whole country, is made up from groups of immigrants that got here in one way or another. However, this is the 21st century, and even though the beginnings of how this country was created and evolved definitely deserve some criticism and even condemnation, there are laws that need to be respected today. I don’t feel that it is acceptable to have people moving in and out of a country that can’t be accounted for, especially when it is against the law of the land. It’s not about race, it’s about respecting the law. If you are caught driving a car with no license or insurance, there will be a penalty. If you sneak into a movie theater, and security randomly asks you for a ticket stub, you can be thrown out. I think that is reasonable and fair. The thing that I take issue with is the reason that certain people are pulled over on the road or questioned at the movies in the first place, and this reflects racial and class profiling in many cases. I do not agree with giving “law enforcement broad discretion against determining whether or not an individual belongs to this country,” but I do feel that laws are there for a reason and need to be respected.
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course I didn’t reply to your blog last week, so I’m going to throw my thoughts at you now. I remember seeing an episode of Criminal Minds, I think it was. There was a sociopath out in Arizona who was murdering illegal immigrants as they tried to cross the border into the States. I remember the overwhelming response in the episode (other than the FBI and police force) was, “Yeah; so what?” And, I remember being disgusted. I think the problem with the new law in Arizona is that we’re forgetting that these immigrants are people first. That’s such a problem in our world today. We forget that people are human and have desires and to treat humans in such a horrific way makes me sick. I try my best not to stereotype anyone and the fact that this law basically gives law enforcement the right to openly do so is such a big problem. More important, the fact that it was passed is the bigger problem in itself. So, yeah. There’s my two-cents worth of opinions. Don’t you feel better knowing them now, though?
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