Many Mexican and El Salvadoran people have come here and discovered that the "American Dream" can become a nightmare when America is rubbed the wrong way. As a black man, born in the 1950's, I have also experienced the uglier side of America. African-Americans are the only race of people in the United States whose ancestors did not immigrate here of their own free wills. However, the majority of people who make up America all have an ancestral history rooted in voluntary immigration. Every person of Irish, Italian, German, Greek, Asian, and Russian decent have relatives who came here in search of a better life. America has always been touted as "The Melting Pot". Even the indigenous American Indians' ancestors migrated here from Siberia through the Barren Straits. No one here is originally from here no matter how they got here or how long they have been here. As a matter of fact, the Mexicans were here, out West, before the West was even America. Now, many of them, have created a socio-economic problem for America and they must bare their share of the blame and help correct this growing concern.
Here is the paradox. Although one of America's founding principals was based on immigration. We cannot leave out the adjective "LEGAL" immigration. When someone comes here illegally their first act here is a criminal one. Unfortunately, common sense dictates that if someone was willing to commit one illegal act, for whatever reason, they would most likely be willing to commit more illegal acts. Most immigrants, legal or illegal, come here to better their economic situation. This means that when they get here they will, most likely, need to take advantage of social assistance such as food stamps, public housing and indigent medical care. Legal immigration does not place a great strain on the funds in the state and federal coffers targeted for these programs because more people are paying into the programs and the states are aware of the population increases and can justify increases in the financial budgets supporting these programs. This next point goes back to the notion that if one crime can be committed so can another. Many illegal immigrants also possess illegal identification and documents that allows them access to public assistance causing an imbalance in the inflow and outflow of the funds intended for the citizens and legal aliens in need of the help. Funding will always be inadequate as long as so many unaccounted people are taking out. The huge overflow of people abusing or misusing these programs through illegal means has made it extremely difficult for the legitimate families (many single parented and low income) that need these social services and may at some point have helped pay into them. The strain on these programs, due to more resources going out than coming in , is in part, the cause and effect of an increase in fraudulent enrollment by unaccounted people using counterfeited or illegally obtained documents.
Legal immigration allows for monitoring in an effort to prevent criminal fugitives from fleeing justice into America or allowing known criminal elements from taking up residence. Legal immigration allows monitoring in an effort to prevent communicable diseases, long wiped out from the American population, from becoming a national threat again. Legal immigration allows a person to become a law abiding participant in the social taxation structure of this country and not someone who has come here to drain it's resources without giving back.
The Mexican and El Salvadoran immigrants are vital to our agricultural and construction industries and we can ill afford to lose them. To banish them from this country would be to banish ourselves. Several American businesses depend on their skills and wills to work. Not too many Americans pick anything but their noses and toes. Who do you think picks our delicate crops that a machine would ruin?
My only objection is that too many of our friends south of the border take the illegal way out. I cannot justify or condone any illegal act to reach a means, no matter how good intentioned, when there is a legal recourse available. I would not have approved of the Civil Rights Movement if it was founded on illegal and violent principals. That is why it was not. It was done by the rules set forth for all people in this country. It was not easy but it opened the door for national support for a good and just cause. So must our Hispanic brothers and sisters address this issue of immigration...by the rules. Supporting illegal immigration would be like supporting the riots in the 60's that decimated many black communities. It was wrong and in the long run worse for the people who were doing it. Illegal immigration opens a legitimate platform for the bigots and racists to spout their hatred to people who under normal circumstances would not listen. You cannot do something wrong and make it seem right. If you try to do that...if you fight to support breaking the law and cheating... you will look like a hypocrite. One great American principal is..."Play by the rules!" That will never change. It is not a good idea to enter this country by breaking the rules and expect the law abiding citizens to accept it or put up with it.
In closing, I think most Americans, no matter their ethnic origin, feel as I do and that is not to discourage or block people from coming here to find a better life, as millions have before them, but to discourage those
people who choose to come from entering into America illegally.
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