My Own Thoughts Regarding Arizona's Racist Immigration Policy.
Immigration, legal or not, is a complex issue. I don't know, nor care whether my very recent immigrant ancestors came here legally, probably not.
My father came to the states from England in 1928 or 9. My mother's father got here from France in 1905 or so. My mother's mother's parents fled the pograms of Germany and Russia, respectively, in the 19th Century.
I'm a Nuevo America but my daughter is Daughter of the American Revolution eligible.
Honestly, the whole 'Manifest Destiny' bullshit was just a cover for genocide. There were no empty places in America, ever. Even the so-called Native Peoples (Indians) killed or fucked the folks they found here until everyone looked the same.
The issue for me is one of boundaries. What are the boundaries of civilization?
Do we have the right to restrict immigration on any level or should all borders be open.
How about criminals? How about terrorists? How about folks who openly say they hate America?
Gays? I could care less about but I know two people murdered by drunken illegal Mexican immigrants.
Are all illegal Mexican immigrants drunks and murders? No. But the question remains.
Do we have the right to say no? Does anyone ever, anywhere, have the right to say no?
I 'own' property in Mexico. That's a lie. As an American I can't own the property I 'own' in Mexico so a Mexican bank 'owns' it for me. Last time I crossed (in February) I got shaken down for $75 by a Mexican cop. I could have resisted. I paid him the $75 and got to leave without a trip in handcuffs to the jail. I also got stopped by machine gun toting Mexican soldiers in the middle of nowhere. They 'fucked' with me until they got bored.
Should the Mexican American border be open?
Should the Mexican-Guatemala border be open?
It's not. They shoot people dead for crossing illegally there.
Complex questions.
I know there's not enough water in California for the 37 million people who live here now.
I know that the jobs I held (with other high-school drop-outs, 'Negros' , Indians and Mexican-Americans are now all held by illegal immigrants, predominantly brown-skinned.
I hire them, work with illegal immigrants, eat with them, go to school with them, get served by them and like them, but when does a country say 'too much'?
Complex questions.
I have no answers but I know what Arizona is doing is wrong.
That's a start.
My father came to the states from England in 1928 or 9. My mother's father got here from France in 1905 or so. My mother's mother's parents fled the pograms of Germany and Russia, respectively, in the 19th Century.
I'm a Nuevo America but my daughter is Daughter of the American Revolution eligible.
Honestly, the whole 'Manifest Destiny' bullshit was just a cover for genocide. There were no empty places in America, ever. Even the so-called Native Peoples (Indians) killed or fucked the folks they found here until everyone looked the same.
The issue for me is one of boundaries. What are the boundaries of civilization?
Do we have the right to restrict immigration on any level or should all borders be open.
How about criminals? How about terrorists? How about folks who openly say they hate America?
Gays? I could care less about but I know two people murdered by drunken illegal Mexican immigrants.
Are all illegal Mexican immigrants drunks and murders? No. But the question remains.
Do we have the right to say no? Does anyone ever, anywhere, have the right to say no?
I 'own' property in Mexico. That's a lie. As an American I can't own the property I 'own' in Mexico so a Mexican bank 'owns' it for me. Last time I crossed (in February) I got shaken down for $75 by a Mexican cop. I could have resisted. I paid him the $75 and got to leave without a trip in handcuffs to the jail. I also got stopped by machine gun toting Mexican soldiers in the middle of nowhere. They 'fucked' with me until they got bored.
Should the Mexican American border be open?
Should the Mexican-Guatemala border be open?
It's not. They shoot people dead for crossing illegally there.
Complex questions.
I know there's not enough water in California for the 37 million people who live here now.
I know that the jobs I held (with other high-school drop-outs, 'Negros' , Indians and Mexican-Americans are now all held by illegal immigrants, predominantly brown-skinned.
I hire them, work with illegal immigrants, eat with them, go to school with them, get served by them and like them, but when does a country say 'too much'?
Complex questions.
I have no answers but I know what Arizona is doing is wrong.
That's a start.
posted by Fred Dodsworth at 11:04 PM
2 Comments:
Here in Arizona, we're famous for doing the wrong thing as a way of doing SOMETHING. The people behind the "English Only" movement some years ago claimed they were not racist, but of course, it was all about refusing to accommodate immigrants, legal or otherwise, who didn't know English. My opinion is that Arizona (and any other locale with a large population of non-English speaking persons) has stupidly missed a golden opportunity to raise generations of bilingual kids, who could then go on to acquire a third language with ease, just like Europeans do, and enhance their ability to learn all kinds of other things. There are great advantages to having "the other" among us, and yes, there are some liabilities. Yet it's easy to forget in all the reactionary claptrap that most violent and other crime is committed by our own citizens since that's what we have the most of. Crime and Punishment ... it's an old story among humans. You're right that we're facing natural resource limits and economic limits. Ultimately, the U.S. must partner with its neighbors to promote genuine economic opportunity that flows both ways across the borders and social justice for all, since those are the root causes of migration, legal and otherwise. Great discussion, old friend. xoxo, Cookie
I don't think its wrong just because its racist. I mean, yes its racist, and yes, racism is wrong, but I object to the idea IN PRINCIPLE that my "papers" can be demanded of me at any time, in any place without probable cause. Sure, THIS time its directed at hispanics, but what happens when I say, go to protest the government, and the police come and demand everybody's "papers", locking up those who don't have them?
When they came for the Jews, I said nothing because I was not a Jew. When they came for the Communists, I said nothing because I am not a Communist. When they came for the Gypsys, I said nothing because I was not a Gypsy. When they came for the Poles, I said nothing because I am not a Pole. When they came for me, no one said anything because there was no one left to speak.
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