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An Argument for Amnesty

May 10, 2012 by 1 Comment

 

Although our laws have changed many times over the years, our attitudes towards immigrants have remained the same, even while admitting we are a “melting pot” country and that immigrants made this country all that it is today.

 

We have always had a need / fear relationship with immigrants. Our history of laws tells this story quite eloquently.

 

During the gold rush, California was awash in asian immigrants who came here looking for opportunity. We needed cheap laborers to build the railroads, do our laundry, cook, work in mines, and any other hard unwanted work. We weren’t too pleased with our immigrant workers, but they served a purpose so we put up with them, until gold became scarce and the competition for work made them more undesirable. We really liked to single out our asian immigrants, imposing more rules and limits on them than any other immigrant community. We even specifically banned Chinese in 1892.

 

Currently we are demonizing the Mexican immigrant, and grouping all other latino immigrants in with them by proxy.  As with the Chinese, we liked them when times were good. They did the hard and dirty work and made our lives much easier, but ever since jobs began to get scarce, we needed to blame someone for what ails us and they look like the easiest target. After we get over demonizing Latinos, I am sure we will find another immigrant base to focus our anger and responsibility on. If history does repeat itself, my money is on the Chinese. They seem to be our favorite.

 

If we look at our immigrant forefathers, when they first came to this country, they were persecuted and made scapegoats for any problem that the citizens of this country did not see fit to take responsibility for themselves. Because of this, every successive wave of immigrants has had to endure this treatment, until finally they became accepted and the focus on them decreased. This was almost always because of a newer group of immigrants who appeared to be more of a threat than the previous one.

 

For the past several years there has raged a large debate as to what to do with the millions of undocumented latino workers living in our country. Politicians have see-sawed over this issue countless times, promising improvements in immigration policy and then restating their positions after considerable party pressure. It’s like they want to do the right thing, but when they feel like they may be eaten by their own, they retreat to the comfort and protection of their party.  This may be very much our fault too.

 

And that is the point isn’t it? Whose fault is it that they are here illegally to begin with? Should we put the blame for this situation on the people who were just working within the constructs of what they were given, or on the people who created the need but ignored the systems required to satisfy that need? And if it is our fault– if the immigrants had no control over a system that is broken beyond belief and has been for years– then how can we blame and punish them? After all, aren’t we the only ones who can create the policies and institutions necessary to ensure everyone who comes into this country is identified, and we have the labor we need?

 

Lets end the blame game and get on with the solution, which leads me to my original proposition: Isn’t amnesty the honorable way out of this mess?

 

These people have been here for many years and we have never boycotted a single company that made a product for us cheaper because they used immigrant labor. Shouldn’t we give them citizenship should they desire it? At the very least we should make it legal for them to be here and decriminalize a population of hardworking people that aren’t criminals to begin with.

 

This is our mess. We need to take responsibility for it, and fix it, without blaming the pawns in our little blame game.

 

 

Filed Under: Economy, Ethics, immigrants, Immigration's effects on citizens, Laws, Politics

Arizona in the spotlight

May 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The Ariziona Republic, an Arizona news outlet purporting to be, “Arizona’s Homepage” recently published a news article about Immigration waning as a voter issue. This leads me to believe that as far as immigration is concerned, Arizona still has a long way to go to catch up with the rest of America.

 

According to all the news articles I read each day, I have a hard tim believing Americans have suddenly dropped the immigration issue as this article tries to convey. This really sounds like the fanciful dreaming of a wounded and severely damaged anti-immigrant platform.

 

Americans are very capable of keeping more than one topic on their minds at the same time, and I am sure that Immigration is right up there with Jobs and the Economy as one of the top 3 topics Americans are most involved with right now. With the Occupy movement recently grabbing the public attention we see their activism loosely aimed at all aspects of the economy and jobs, with particular attention given to Job creation, taxation, and wealth distribution. And with all the politicians having meetings to discuss immigration and their associated press releases, along with the Mercedez Benz fiasco, I would argue that the immigration movement has actually picked up steam in recent weeks.

 

Arizona, It’s obvious your Senators and Sheriffs like to grab headlines and carry the hard line against illegal immigrants, but what you should really be doing instead of all this political posturing, is listening more and talking less. Then you may just understand what the devil is going on in this country. Immigration issues cannot be swept under the carpet any longer. There will be a steady flow of press releases in the future, and maybe even a few more politicians and sheriffs will lose their jobs before this is over.

 

Arizona Republic, nice try pretending this issue doesn’t resonate with America. Immigration is at the core of who we are and there are a lot of people on both sides of the fence who can’t seem to agree on what to do about the PRESENT state of things. Give it up Arizona Republic. Hard lines and radical views are what got us into this mess, and will only keep us chained to this tragic situation indefinitely.

 

And by the way, how can you credit the byline to Daniel González(?) for writing this article when at the bottom of the article it states, “Republic reporter Dan Nowicki contributed to this article.” On face value it appears that you are attempting to look fair and impartial by using an hispanic name for the byline, while carrying a radical viewpoint.

Can the true message of this article get any more convoluted?

 

 

http://bit.ly/rt8QMT

Filed Under: Economy, Employment, Hate, Immigration's effects on citizens, Laws, Politics

Mitt Romney, the GOP, and America

May 10, 2012 by 1 Comment

I posted a blog entry on September 18th titled, “We Need A Hero,” and I thought I spotted one the other day. Newt Gingrich, you came forward and spoke your mind. You stood a moral ground and said you were “prepared to take heat” for it.

 

Well you got the heat.

 

Michelle Bachman and MItt Romney both took out their matches and tried to light fires under you so you would no longer be a threat to their nomination bids. Michelle Bachman called you, “The most liberal G.O.P. Candidate on immigration reform.” Which I guess was supposed to be an insult. Mitt Romney tried to put words in your mouth, overstating your position in an effort to make you vulnerable to an attack from your own party. We clearly see what he is made of.

 

Now we see you wavering a bit, stating you are not for amnesty, and 25 years should be the cut-off point for anyone who came here illegally to apply for a “Red Card” which would let them live here, but not as citizens. Excuse me, but 25 years ago was 1986, and anyone who was in the United States in 1986 was offered Amnesty back then. A  25 year cut-off really makes no sense.

 

Mr. Gingrich, you don’t need to back down. There is nothing morally wrong in what you said, and you know it– that’s why you said it.

 

What I am sure every American in this country believes to be true is that have all the politicians we need. What America needs right now is a Hero. We need someone to stand up for what is right, more than for what is popular.

 

At first this would seemingly fly in the face of what Politics is all about, but I beg to differ.  Our greatest statesmen stood on principle when it would have been easier to echo the popular view. Those who did and said what was popular at the moment, will not be remembered long, nor celebrated for their contribution to mediocrity, or immorality.

 

Help us take back that which we seem to lose more of every year–our National Pride. We have screwed up the world economy, we were embarrassingly wrong about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, we don’t know how to get out of Afghanistan, we keep people imprisoned indefinitely without charges at Guantanamo Bay, and we got busted shipping guns to Mexico. (Like we really needed that one.) Every time we go to sleep at night we wonder what new controversy we may find ourselves in the middle of tomorrow.

 

When you spoke up for a Nation that did not believe in breaking up families– I began to see amber waves of grain again. When you spoke up for a nation that values friends and neighbors instead of creating a cultural and social war zone; I caught a glimpse of a “brotherhood from sea to shining sea.” When you said you would take the heat for trying to give us back some National Pride, I clearly saw someone “Who more than self their country loved. And mercy more than life!” .

 

America does not shed her grace on the lazy, or the timid, or the selfish. America needs a great leader now as much as any other time in our history. We are losing world confidence in our financial solvency. Our reputation as a bully to smaller countries goes unchecked despite our best intentions. And our inability to rise above ourselves and get out of our own way when it comes to welcoming “the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free” is tragic. If these words mean nothing any more then they should be stricken from the monument, or forever be the yardstick by which our failure as a great and free country is measured.

 

Mr. Gingrich, I understand that you fear your own party is turning on you, as your opponents would like you to believe. I understand the fear you must be feeling when even your advisors tell you that your position on immigration could lose you the nomination.

 

That is real heat. But fear not; you are not alone. Your opponents feel it too or they would not have shot back with whatever foley was at their command. Don’t listen to the voice in the back of your mind telling you to step away from a position that is morally right.

 

Ten years from now and after, when we look back on this battle, as we have done each time we have fought to defend a moral idea against a false but popular position, you can be sure that you are in the company of other great men in our nation’s history.

 

It takes the heat of a mighty furnace to forge mere rock into steel, and a relentless battering to shape that steel into a sword. You are in a place right now where you can be that sword, a shining example of what is good about this country, and your political competition, which is made of softer, more malleable materials, will be reduced to ashes and relegated to the dustbin of history.

 

So Mr. Gingrich, when you are up late at night, and the day’s events play over and over again in your head, and you end the day with that one all-powerful question: How will the future see Newt Gingrich?” There really is an easier way to ask that question that should make the answer perfectly clear, “Are you a Lincoln or are you a Douglas?”

 

Mike J Quinn

 

Citizen,

The United States of America

 

Filed Under: Ethics, Immigration's effects on citizens, Politicians, Politics

A letter to Newt Gingrich

May 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Hey Newt,

 

I hear you are starting to lag in the polls now. Apparently standing on principal worked better than standing on popular belief. You broke from the herd when you declared there  needs to be a more humane way to deal with the immigrants in this country. Ratings skyrocketed. You had no competition. Then, as pressure mounted, and you knew it would, you caved. You back tracked on your stance, without really negating what you previously had said, which only a seasoned politician can do, but it fooled no one.

 

Now that you are towing the party line, you look like all the other Republican candidates and you are losing your distinction as a man who believes in something, and will fight for it; which is after all is said and done, is what we are really looking for. We need someone to lead this country out of the funk it is in, not to follow popular yet inefficient philosophies like everybody else.

 

Mr. Gingrich you are either a man who stands for something because you believe it to be right, or you are a man who stands for whatever everyone else stands for– irregardless of right or wrong. It is very easy to tell the difference. The moment anyone opens their mouth, it is immediately obvious which.

 

Well, good luck with that.

Filed Under: Politicians, Politics, Republicans

The United States Immigration Debacle, Part 3: The Politicians

May 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Now there has been a rumbling of discontent around the issue of our United States immigration debacle. Some talk has been made by a few vocal minorities about sending all the undocumented immigrants home so they can stand in line like the rest and do things right. I don’t know who or when or how some of us Americans decided that the arrangement we had going all these years wasn’t quite working out for them any more, but this is where we are today.

 

New State laws and political stumping are ample evidence that the government is pretending to get involved again. This kind of elevated rhetoric usually only happens at election time. What is painfully obvious is the amount of effort that government has put into avoiding this issue. Why? Don’t the politicians want to be hero’s and have the respect and admiration (and votes) of a grateful nation?

 

Of course they do. And I think they are getting it. Here’s what I mean:

 

If the politicians really wanted to fix this situation, they could have done so at any time along the last fifty years or more years. They are the ones that have been chosen to make the laws after all are they not?

 

And what motivates politicians to take action? Money and public opinion. Let’s take a look at each of these and explore what would happen, beginning with public opinion.

 

There are three possible scenarios that public opinion can be categorized in our situation: A majority anti-immigrant sentiment; a majority pro-immigrant sentiment; or an equally distributed public sentiment.

 

Scenario #1 If the majority of the people are anti-immigrant:

All the politicians would have to do is write up a bill condemning undocumented workers, punish the employers, expel the immigrants and let them know if they are caught in our borders again, they will go to prison for a long time. The specifics can vary, but anything along these lines would satisfy the majority of the public, and their approval rating and chances for re-election are greatly improved.

 

Scenario #2  The majority of the people are pro-immigrant:

All they would have to do is pass a bill and give them amnesty, open up the borders and the majority will have been satisfied. Again, the specifics can vary, but the outcome will be the same. Improved public opinion and an increased chance for re-election.

 

Scenario #3  The nation is equally split among the two different opinions:

No problem here either once you stand back and look at this objectively and keep your eyes on a positive outcome. Propose a bill giving those that can prove employment and residency for the past five years can stay, keeping the productive people here, and everyone else, must leave or face deportation and banishment for ten years. You can argue other possibilities as well, but no matter the specifics, if you give both sides something, then everyone is equally pacified and perturbed, but having half of something is better than nothing.

 

Any of these scenarios could have taken place and the outcomes would have been appreciated by the country. Scenario 3 granted is the most difficult, but give them both something to be happy about, and get on with it. If our country is heavily in one camp or the other, (just look at the data from one of the thousands of opinion polls they take each year) it is that much easier. Give the people what they want and be the hero. Done. Public opinion can be addressed, and should be, by the politicians wanting to keep their jobs another year. Do nothing and now you have a lot of work come election time trying to persuade the voters you did a great job last term and will continue to do a great job next term. So why have we just ignored this situation all these years?

 

If you believe government understands those two basic things, Money and opinion (They take more opinion polls than any company in the world.) then any time you want to understand the government, just follow public opinion or money. Since we just looked at the three possible public opinion scenarios and we can’t explain their inaction, we should therefore follow the money.

 

I think politicians know that businesses really don’t want to elevate the undocumented workers to a legal status because it would cost many businesses more. Lots more. If businesses can pay much less to undocumented workers and get away with it because they are undocumented and unlikely to stand up for their rights, they will. If immigrants become legal, they will get minimum wage, regular breaks and benefits like vacation days, personal time off and overtime, medical and dental insurance, and maybe even 401k retirement plans, as well as understand their rights as workers much more and are more liable to file employment grievances with the EEOC. Prices are going to go up to compensate for the rising costs and their ability to compete with companies from other countries will diminish considerably, threatening their very existence.

 

And us? Some of us think we pay way too much for social and health services for the undocumented now, but wait until they become legal and the products we buy steadily rise in price until acceptable profit margins are made to sustain the companies livelihood. This will put them at risk for being undersold by outside companies whose labor prices are much much cheaper, and I believe the demand for undocumented workers will be on the rise once again.

 

Politicians really are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. They may act like clowns during election years, and some of them have been known to be full-time comics the rest of the year too, but they all know that as much as we like to blow off steam and beat our chests about how much more moral we are than the criminal undocumented worker, we really don’t want anything to change. Neither does business.

 

But we still have one more group of people involved in this situation to be discussed: the immigrant. Having a national debate about what to do about undocumented immigrants without even bringing them into discussion would be quite impossible. Even today we discuss their needs, desires, customs and personal habits to a great extent. Next week we’ll take a look at the immigrant, and where they fit into all of this.

 

Do you have an opinion about this article? Your feedback is welcome, but please let’s be civil. When we lose our composure, we lose the ability to influence others as well.

 

Filed Under: Immigration's effects on citizens, Laws, Politicians, Politics, Republicans, The US Immigration Debacle
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