Immigration Rambles and Rants
May. 2nd, 2006 07:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gypsyannaI am thoroughly sick and tired of hearing about illegal aliens and immigration laws. It's simple, really.
If you want to be Mexican-American, carry the American flag and welcome.
If you want to be Mexican, carry the Mexican flag and go back to Mexico.
DO NOT demand that we make America into Mexico just to suit you.
I'm of two minds on the whole issue, primarily because I think there is a lot on both sides of it that we're not hearing, and there's a hell of a lot more to it than what we're hearing on the news. However, it infuriates me that first, they're allowed to have a day off work without repercussions so they can protest, but the rest of us had to work anyway. Second, when they're protesting, they're waving around the Mexican flag.
Hello? This is America. This is where you are insisting you want to stay, where you have the right to stay. Would waving around the AMERICAN flag during your protests make more sense? Or is the purpose simply to offend everyone who isn't you?
They have the right to stay, they say. Well, for those in this country legal, we should have rights, too. Why don't we? Why do the illegal immigrants have more perks than we do? I have to pay for college. It's not easy. They get it free. I have to pay for health insurance; it's taken out of my weekly paycheck. I have to pay a co-pay when I see a doctor and if I need something done that's not covered under my insurance policy, then I have to pay for it. Illegal immigrants get it free. I heard one classmate last night relay a incident his family faced. His nephew needed major surgery to correct a problem with his skull. It wasn't growing properly. It was going to cost several thousand dollars. They had to pay it. A child of illegal immigrants had severe health problems, needed surgery that would cost several times more than my classmate's nephew. My classmate overheard the nurse telling the parents of hte other child, "Don't worry - the hospital pays for everything."
Another story: in an emergency room, a child died while waiting to be seen. Why was he waiting? Because all the illegal immigrants had to be seen first.
Why must legal American citizens suffer and pay, in favor of people who are not here legally? Is this just? Is this right? Is this fair?
But, we also have to look at the other side. Who is so cold that they can look at an injured child and ask first, "Are you a legal citizen of the US?" A child is a child, regardless of nationality. Blood is red, regardless of the shade of skin that houses it.
But that doesn't carry over to other areas, like education. Why should they get a free ride while I had to struggle for 12 years to get myself to a point where I could go back to school, and then have a large chunk of debt to look forward to once I earned a degree that may, or may not, get me a job that pays well enough to afford it? After all, I'm white. Just that simple fact will knock me out of the running for so many jobs because I'm not in a minority.
I just wish the politicians and reporters would stop fanning the flames, and the protesters would get a damn clue. Do they even know what they're protesting, or is this just an excuse to get out of work/school and make a fuss?
If you want to be Mexican-American, carry the American flag and welcome.
If you want to be Mexican, carry the Mexican flag and go back to Mexico.
DO NOT demand that we make America into Mexico just to suit you.
I'm of two minds on the whole issue, primarily because I think there is a lot on both sides of it that we're not hearing, and there's a hell of a lot more to it than what we're hearing on the news. However, it infuriates me that first, they're allowed to have a day off work without repercussions so they can protest, but the rest of us had to work anyway. Second, when they're protesting, they're waving around the Mexican flag.
Hello? This is America. This is where you are insisting you want to stay, where you have the right to stay. Would waving around the AMERICAN flag during your protests make more sense? Or is the purpose simply to offend everyone who isn't you?
They have the right to stay, they say. Well, for those in this country legal, we should have rights, too. Why don't we? Why do the illegal immigrants have more perks than we do? I have to pay for college. It's not easy. They get it free. I have to pay for health insurance; it's taken out of my weekly paycheck. I have to pay a co-pay when I see a doctor and if I need something done that's not covered under my insurance policy, then I have to pay for it. Illegal immigrants get it free. I heard one classmate last night relay a incident his family faced. His nephew needed major surgery to correct a problem with his skull. It wasn't growing properly. It was going to cost several thousand dollars. They had to pay it. A child of illegal immigrants had severe health problems, needed surgery that would cost several times more than my classmate's nephew. My classmate overheard the nurse telling the parents of hte other child, "Don't worry - the hospital pays for everything."
Another story: in an emergency room, a child died while waiting to be seen. Why was he waiting? Because all the illegal immigrants had to be seen first.
Why must legal American citizens suffer and pay, in favor of people who are not here legally? Is this just? Is this right? Is this fair?
But, we also have to look at the other side. Who is so cold that they can look at an injured child and ask first, "Are you a legal citizen of the US?" A child is a child, regardless of nationality. Blood is red, regardless of the shade of skin that houses it.
But that doesn't carry over to other areas, like education. Why should they get a free ride while I had to struggle for 12 years to get myself to a point where I could go back to school, and then have a large chunk of debt to look forward to once I earned a degree that may, or may not, get me a job that pays well enough to afford it? After all, I'm white. Just that simple fact will knock me out of the running for so many jobs because I'm not in a minority.
I just wish the politicians and reporters would stop fanning the flames, and the protesters would get a damn clue. Do they even know what they're protesting, or is this just an excuse to get out of work/school and make a fuss?
