Comment, Questions & Thoughts on recent Story

A friend of mine after reading my last story on Immigration Concerns during my recent heart attack sent me the following comments and questions. After reflecting on this I asked for some help from my friends to help clarify a couple of many nagging questions. I hope this sheds some light.


COMMENT AND QUESTION!!!!

I went to the blog that you referenced and read your entry. I must admit some questions about these immigration issues, although I am far from informed. Night after night I watch the local news reports of weeping children crying over the loss of their mother who was so mercilessly deported by our supposedly heartless government. I watch picketers and nuns outside of the immigration offices pleading for an exception "in just this one case". Lots of emotional tugging at the heartstrings. And I do feel for the kids and families. But my question is: Shouldn't mom have considered these consequences when she presumably decided to break the law and enter the country illegally? Could she not have forseen that this might be a possible outcome? And where does one draw the line for "just this one exception"? Does the immigrant (illegal) bear any responsibility for the consequences of the decision that they made perhaps years ago when they came here? Or is the argument that we have no right to put any limits on the number of people entering this country because our borders should be porous for anyone in search of (or some would probably say "with a right to" a better life). This seems to me to be far from a clear cut issue of heartless injustice on the part of the US. But immigration reform? Yes it should not be stalled indefinitely. Some sort of bill should be agreed upon and passed. But saying what? I am confused...........

THOUGHTS AND ANSWERS!!!!

The person has a good question and a reasonable perspective. It is NOT simple. I think most undocumented people know that they are vulnerable and that they can be separated if one of them is caught. The raids keep that awareness very keenly in people's eyes. But people live with the hope that it will not happen...at least not now, at least not to them. Some people will not accept rides from friends who they know are undocumented and do not have a valid drivers license--What might happen if the police stop them? They could all be in danger of deportation. Yet the motives that move people to come here and accept that risk are strong. Some come in real desperation, others with a simple human desire to find a better life. They know there are risks. For some, those risks do not make it worthwhile. For others, the risks are accepted. When in fact immigration agents arrive and people are taken, of course that has human consequences. Family suffer when a loved one, a parent or a child, is taken away. Friends want to advocate for them because it seems "unnecessary"--"Why not let them stay? They are not hurting anyone. They are good people living a good, decent life. When enforcement is so random, why not look away one more time?" The difficulty of resolving this is the "grayness" of the issue for many. Yes, people are responsible for the choices they make and for the consequences those carry. Yes, a nation has a right to ask respect for its borders. Yes, the government (and immigration agents) have a right to enforce the law. But how do we do this humanly in the face of so many persons and families who are now here, rooted, contributing, some with citizenship and some not, interwoven into our society now and with no where else to really go? It got this way because we let it happen over 50 years because it served our needs for cheap labor and cheaper goods. The inequity between our country and Latin America will not go away and neither will the draw to share in what we have that others don't. As Congress tried to resolve this, strong views collided. How do we protect American jobs, how do we enforce borders, how do we avoid any semblance of amnesty (by now making the road to citizenship punitive for those who have been here without permission), how do we resolve this without mass deportations that would devastate families and make a real hole in our economy and our communities? Some certainly voted no because it was too lenient, others because it was too harsh. Everybody is trying to protect something here (including votes). The sadness of no resolution is that it merely leaves a lot of confusion in place: people are left vulnerable, companies continue to use and abuse them, people still cannot build stable lives yet few will abandon this for the even greater uncertainty of returning to their former countries. So the poverty continues. The shadow life continues. We can do better than this.

Personally, I think the more human, just, thing to do is to allow most who are here to stay, without unreasonable barriers such as leaving the country or excessive fines. Many have few resources, after all. I think the border becomes more controllable if people see hope of entering legally in 5 years (if we tell them to wait 20 years, that certainly makes one look to other options)--so we need to increase immigration cuotas. I also think that a strong factor is investment in just economic development in Mexico and Central America. If we can facilitate stronger local economies that can provide jobs, fewer will feel drawn to come north, leaving so much behind. There is no quick fix, but there are moves we can make in the right direction...
Bob Kell--Welcome Center