First off, I am not a homophobe, Islamaphobe, racist, etc. I am your neighbor who held the door for you, said hello and helped out when you needed it. I love all people on this planet; even those who don't really deserve it. I believe we are all God's children and worthy of respect and love.
Immigration is a hot topic and always will be. Many are taking to the streets because they are worried about being deported based on race, religion and any other reason they see as being different. You use the word "undocumented" which is another word for illegal.
If being "different" was a criteria for being deported then there wouldn't be anyone left here.
While you are screaming and protesting about being deported please calm down and start thinking rationally. Why is okay for you to visit ANY country on Earth and use their benefits, take their money for a cash under the table job and to take a spot from someone who stood in line; paid the fee for a legal visa. Their jobs pay taxes that help fund education, immigration, streets, first responders, etc. The list is long and varied.
Before you stop reading please understand, I am married to a naturalized citizen. He moved here from Canada on a TN-1. In my opinion, he is the only good thing from NAFTA. He moved here for a job and from day 1 he began paying taxes into our system knowing if he retired from this job without becoming a citizen, he would never be able to receive any benefits. Why did he come here through the proper channels when others are not? After we married, we hired an immigration attorney to make sure we handled the paperwork properly so he could travel outside the United States legally for work and to go visit his family.
If you go to work, school, visit or move to another country, don't you get a VISA, have a passport and leave when your time is up? Do you stay in that country after your VISA expires? I didn't. I lived in Canada for a couple of years and was married to a Canadian citizen. I paid the fees necessary to be there legally. Maybe I should have just disappeared into Canada and lived off their benefits and in the shadows.
No one should live in fear or have to take low-paying jobs in order to live in another country. If their lives are in jeopardy, the United States provides temporary sanctuary. We also make it easy for those vetted properly to receive VISAs. Someone climbing a wall to get here seems to be hiding something if they don't want to come across the border through checkpoints. They pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to a coyote bring their families and themselves across the border and the worse part is the fact many die doing that. That is a waste of life. That should never happen when that money could easily pay for the temporary legal VISA to get them into the country.
How do we know those coming across the border illegally aren't drug mules or dealers, rapists or murderers? When President Jimmy Carter told Castro to send his people to us, he opened the prisons and mental facilities and sent them first. They lived under bridges in Miami for years. Google "Mariel boatlift" if you don't believe me. Why can't we vet them better or at all? If they don't have anything to hide, why not come here legally? I know that most of those coming across are looking for a better life for their families but by doing it illegally that takes a spot for someone else wanting a better life and being denied access.
I also believe we need to make it easier for those who have been here for longer than ten years to become legal citizens because in most cases, they have no where to go if we send them back home. We know this and can adapt for this. Why is it okay for many of the undocumented to go back and forth often or back home to where ever that is very often? How do we know they aren't terrorists? What about the Yemen naturalized citizen who was trying to join ISIS? At least Homeland Security was able to track him when who knows how many others are plotting against us that cannot be found or tracked.
The realistic unemployment rate is over 10% in the United States. Many here are underemployed and unemployed. They are losing their homes, don't have health insurance and dying because they can't afford medicine or the programs to help them are out of money. Some of that is because the illegal (undocumented to you) immigrants are using those benefits.
Contrary to popular belief, we aren't scared of Muslims, we are scare of radical Islamic terrorists and they are not the same people. Muslims are peaceful, working neighbors and friends. They are there to help when others need it. They are kind, friendly and have a great sense of humor. You see them in school, Walmart, the grocery store and at your children's sports and school events. Same thing with Latinos and those from other countries.
When you are protesting and screaming, remember you are lucky to live in a country that allows that. Remember that you are supposedly loving your fellow citizens as you are blocking traffic and destroying personal property. Remember and thank any soldiers you meet for their service because THEY are REASON you are able to carry misspelled signs and using vulgar language while blocking traffic and destroying personal property. I am sure if you still fell afraid, your school can find you pacifier and blankie to make you feel safer.
I will be out there looking for a job and hoping I can afford my health insurance next year. I guess we have different priorities.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Your loving neighbor, The Average American
