Immigration

The following appeared in the 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc. on 4-12-06:

“A manager at a Detroit meatpacking plant said Monday that 15 immigrant women were fired last month after attending a protest for immigrant rights. He said they had been told that they would be terminated if they missed work on the day of the protest.
But the workers and an activist working on their behalf said the women were given no such assurances. If the workers knew they would have been fired for attending the March 27 rally in Detroit, they never would have skipped the morning shift, said Elena Herrada, a Detroit activist who is trying to help the women get their jobs back.”

The story continues with an account of the incident and the statement by Ms. Herrada, “They were fired ‘for standing up for their rights.’” I should feel sorry for these people. I should feel some anger toward the company that fired them. I don’t feel either one!

First, a check of semantics reveals that instead of saying “illegal aliens” the article chose to refer to these people as “undocumented workers.” I believe the author did that to take the focus away from the fact that if a person is here and is working without a green card, they have committed an illegal act. Also, the word ‘alien’ has become a slanderous word in our country recently, so that was changed to ‘worker.’ Please tell me when I get to the part presented by an unbiased media…!

Despite the admittedly dire straights that these people find themselves in, it is the few that spoil things for them all. Case in point: I heard a taped interview with a woman who had been in this country illegally for 17 years. All that time, she lived in subsidized housing (paid by my tax dollars), received WIC for her kids (paid by my tax dollars), sent her kids to a public school (at least partially federally funded by my tax dollars) and received subsidized health care (paid by you-know-what). During this time she worked at a job where she paid NO taxes, either to Social Security, Medicare, the federal government OR to her “adopted” state of California. She stated in the interview that she didn’t think she would register as a “guest worker” because she’s afraid she’ll lose her job. Her employer doesn’t want to pay her more money and he’s been dodging employment taxes on this woman for 17 years, so it certainly isn’t in HIS best interest for her to register. The fact is, I can’t think of a single reason why anyone who is here illegally would want to register as a “guest worker”! Why would they want to pay taxes? With no documented income, they were eligible for federal and state programs that they would be disqualified from if they had some earned income on their 1040s! Now, people just like this undocumented woman, are out in the streets demanding that I make their lives better, burning the flag to which I swear allegiance, and creating a stink if they get fired for not showing up at work so they can do it! I feel like my hand just got bitten off by the animal I’d been feeding!
I grant you that Mexico probably wouldn’t take too kindly to trainloads of immigrants, rounded up and dumped back on their side of the border. And many a farmer might not get his tomatoes picked if immigrants were sent back home. But creating a “guest worker” program doesn’t seem to be the appropriate answer either. What farmer is going to hire “guest workers” if these people now have to be paid a fair wage? He’ll just go out and find those that didn’t register so he can continue to underpay, and if they make any noise, he’ll just move on to the next batch. To some degree, it’s the employers that have to be cracked down on, not the workers. To some degree, Mr. & Mrs. Fifth Avenue will have to begin to pay the real cost of their mixed greens and endive salad. But I don’t believe that granting some sort of amnesty (and yes, I mean amnesty because if a worker is here without going through the proper channels, a crime HAS BEEN committed) is the solution to the immigration question.

Ann Coulter was quoted as having suggested that a 2,000-mile wall along the southern border of the US should be built and, since they seem to need work, we should hire the “undocumented workers” to build it. I suggest one further step – make sure they’re on the southern side!

I have never seen any political hot potato that has been handled worse in Congress. The real knock-you-off-your-feet-land-you-on-your-backside shocker of this whole mess it that the Congress, particularly the Senate, is so far off from their constituencies with whole thing. Polls have stated clearly and succinctly that people coming to this country to live should have to go through the proper channels and that sneaking across a border in the dark of night is not something that inspires the general public to throw out the welcome mat. These people may be only seeking a better life, but there are correct ways to get here. The method they have chosen is against the law, hence they have committed an illegal act and it suggests that there is something criminal in their pasts that they are trying to hide. They are not undocumented workers. They are criminals. They should pay for their crimes by being deported. Then, after they have paid that penalty, if they want to apply to enter this country in the correct way, all should be forgiven and they should be allowed to be on the waiting list with everybody else. Like it or not, that’s the Christian principle that this country was founded on – sin must be paid for before reconciliation can occur. Jesus paid for our sins but He still expects us to do what is good and right and to obey the laws of our countries. We are not to say, “Now Jesus, I know this is the wrong thing to do, but I’m going to go rob this bank anyway because I know that you’ll forgive me.” I feel like the immigrants are saying just that to all of us. “Sure, we came here by breaking your laws, but you’ve got to give us citizenship because we’re here now. Oh, and could you also make it a crime for everybody else to call us illegal immigrants? And while you’re at it, could you change package labels and signs to include our native language? And provide a translator (at no cost) if we have to go to the hospital or seek other public services? Oh, and one more thing, could you ….?”