ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION "DEBATE"

Until our government enforces the existing laws, this issue will continue to divide our country.

It still amazes me that our government does not take a more aggressive approach in attempting to limit the cocaine and methamphetamines that continue to cross the Mexican border. Over 60 percent of the cocaine used in the United States enters the country from Mexico. This is a shocking number when you think about. Over 60 percent! I wonder how many kids (and adults) this drug will continue to devour while we debate if it is appropriate to secure our borders (or even enforce our immigration laws)? It would be great if we could reduce the drugs coming across our border. I think this would have so many positive affects on our kids, our cities, and our prisons. Not to mention reduce tragic car accidents, and other crimes that have physically sad elements.

This issue is really becoming more ridiculous every day the government stands by and does nothing. But then, doing nothing allows big businesses to continue to benefit from employing illegal aliens (while violating tax, social security, and accounting laws, to name a few). This (moral) corruption is the "one" reason that explains why our politicians are “slow” to act -- by doing nothing.

I just don't believe that our citizens do not want the construction jobs that are going to illegals. Are our citizens really unwilling to work for 20 to 30 dollars per hour? One thing I do get is how much money a business saves by hiring illegals and classifying them as "independent workers" versus "employees." This would save such businesses an easy 20 to 25 percent in health care, social security, etc., expenses. But this would be illegal, right?

And who is rebuilding New Orleans? I would think that this could greatly improve the local unemployment. So what is going on? Are we really endorsing an environment of lawlessness in order to maintain a growing economy; an economy that has further increased the division between the rich and the poor.

And while nothing is done about this stuff, drugs continue to flow across the border, our schools continue to suffer from overcrowding (and a lack of resources), our medical centers continue to shut down from treating the uninsured (while the cost of insurance continues to rise), and our country (or at least "Fox News") continues to wonder if certain immigrants that display the flag of their native land have sufficient respect of the United States.

See this link for a fun read. If any of this is true then we should consider a "harsher" approach than doing nothing. LOL? Is this stuff just made up? If not, then it is sad when illegal immigrants show a lack of respect for the United States, while simultaneously lacking the courage to address the corruption and decay of their homeland. But on a positive note, this is one area where it seems that people can have their cake and eat it too. Yum, cake. I like cake.

Personally, the drugs issue is so out of control and impacts so many of our kids that it is embarrassing that we have not secured our borders. As I have discussed before, I attribute this to the greed of our politicians and certain big business owners (e.g., the Enron Affliction). [I am even starting to bore myself. And probably the rest of you? Attrition through boredom.]

Again, this issue will continue to divide our nation. It will continue to create anti-White American, anti-Latino feelings, etc. And most sadly, it will continue to negatively impact our poor citizens, and according to the numbers the "disproportionately" poor African Americans that need our country's support the most. Just see New Orleans. Something needs to be done, unless we have given up?

Does giving up explain New Orleans, Los Angeles, etc. This could be another reason beyond fiscal corruption. There has been some hint at this in the press for a time now.

Now this is just from my experiences in Los Angeles, which may not be the greatest "sampling" of the peace and harmony present in other parts of the country and is totally different than my experiences in Boston, but in Los Angeles the reported tension between Latinos and African Americans (in certain neighborhoods) seems to be rising -- along with the violence and killings. The schools in Los Angles are suffering from real overcrowding and the occasional race fights. Not to mention that we still have 40 thousand students that cannot pass CA's exit exam this year. An exam that does not test beyond the 10th grade! Oh yes, did I mention that our hospitals' ERs continue to close. I think 9 closed in the last year or so. The list just goes on, and this is just Los Angeles! I wonder how much of this is a direct result of our border policy?

And all the while, our politicians on both sides say that they are focusing on gaining the trust, vote of the Latino immigrants (while ignoring the struggles of certain citizens, like those in New Orleans?). Frankly, it is my belief that African American concerns (whether in New Orleans or in Los Angeles) will continue to take a back seat because of the politics of illegal immigration until such concerns are just forgotten by others once there is no true majority in the USA (in 2050 or so?).

It is just a guess (based on the harmony of Los Angeles), but in 2050 when there is no longer a true "majority" I doubt that our country will be as willing to support programs that are designed to "even the playing field" for some. For example, even though most White Americans did not benefit directly from slavery, some still feel guilty or the need to act, to just do something because of how inhumane slavery was to millions. Not to mention that this issue still impacts most of us in some way. However, given the harmony that I have witnessed in Los Angeles, I doubt other members of our society feel such guilt; or the need to act. But who knows? This is a very hard topic; one that I don't fully understand as people don't generally express their views on this topic (at least not to me). It just saddens me that we seem to be content as a nation to proceed on without fixing, or attempting to fix the economic plight of certain pockets of our society. Maybe the situation is not that problematic. Maybe things will work themselves out. Maybe I should take a chill pill?

The question then becomes, will Latinos, Asians, etc., be as willing to bear this responsibility to solve the economic plight of certain people that have suffered tremendously for years; to make some attempt to right past wrongs? I am interested in seeing how we as a nation interact once White Americans are a minority. Personally, it will be great to hand the torch off for a while as my head is about to bust. But that is just me. In this respect, I welcome the change, but think it will create new challenges that we must face as a whole, undivided nation.

So what happens to communities such as New Orleans in the future? My uneducated contention is that such communities will become more isolated and in need as our country becomes more separated by race. And for what? So some super rich (probably White Americans) can prosper at the expense of the rest of our country (including most of our country's White Americans, Latinos, Asians, and African Americans).

Our laws should be enforced in a manner that doesn’t benefit one group at the detriment of another. Our current immigration policies do benefit Latino immigrants (and certain business owners) to the detriment of some Americans. In this respect, it is a form of discrimination that will continue to divide us while it creates an uneven playing field. The future seems so bleak. Yuck! Maybe things will be okay as long as we keep discussing the issues?

Tag, you are it!