I’m Hispanic and I agree with the state’s new immigration law. I believe it has the potential to do a lot of good for citizens. I’m not an immigrant; I was born in this country. I have been the subject of racial profiling.
This past summer I was asked for identification while working in Edmond. I was downtown in a business suit doing interviews for the Edmond Sun. Of everyone in downtown Edmond that afternoon, a local police officer called over to check my ID.
Fortunately, my case was minor, but I knew why he went after me. I can sympathize with the fears that it will increase racial profiling in the state, because, frankly, it probably will. Those fears are completely justified.
I like what this law is doing. The only thing that would make it perfect would be if it could somehow make the naturalization process more streamlined and simple, but last I checked, it wasn’t in the realm of the state government to do so.
It’s not because of some perception that illegal immigrants are all the scum of the globe. That’s far from the truth, many are hard working and otherwise upstanding members of society.
No, this law isn’t there to prevent illegal immigrants from being exploited. How that reasoning even came to exist, I don’t know, but if you think preventing someone from getting any job is saving them from being underpaid at a job, you’re a fool.
You won’t persuade me by claiming that the immigrants are taking jobs legal citizens don’t want to do. Many times, employers use them not because there is no other choice, but because they can get by paying them less, and often under the table.
What does persuade me are numbers, Harvard economics professor George Borjas showed in a study that illegal aliens displaced other workers at a cost of $133 billion last year with $56 billion sent to their home countries.
The Center for Immigration Studies, which admittedly has a stated purpose of lowering immigration, reports that more that $20 billion will be spent on welfare payments for illegal immigrants above and beyond the taxes they pay.
In this state, the Federation of American Immigration Reform reports $200 million in public benefits, law enforcement costs and other resources. With this amount on his desk, combined with the fact that it an override was likely if he vetoed it, Governor Henry reluctantly signed the bill.
The League of United Latin American Citizens is reportedly leading the challenge in the courts, claiming it’s the job of the federal government to regulate immigration.
But as the federal government has stalled on addressing the issue, this Hispanic is happy to see the state taking the first step. It’s not a perfect step, but it’s still a good one.
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Thanks Aaron. It’s very difficult to find a U.S. Citizen with a Latin heritage that doesn’t think it’s a great idea to let all of Mexico into the United States. Thank you for upholding your Pledge of Allegiance to your fellow countrymen.
It’s unfortunate that more U.S. Citizens don’t understand that when they support this invasion, they are breaking their promise to their fellow Americans, their Pledge of Allegiance. I’m not sure how the wording came about, but it is a bit vague, if not ambiguous. You can’t pledge allegiance to a Flag; that’s a piece of cloth. You can’t pledge allegiance to a republic; that’s a form of government. I know, it’s supposed to be symbolic for something, but what?
It’s symbolic for this:
I Promise My Loyalty To My Fellow United States Citizens.
That’s it. Almost all higher-order and many lower-order animals do exactly the same thing when they group together for their common protection. Antelope do it to protect the herd against lions. Families do it to protect against themselves against home intruders. Even criminals do it (Cowards Run In Packs-CRIPS).
So, making a promise to your group is the most fundamental behavior an animal exhibits for it’s own self-protection. That is why treason has been historically considered one of the most vile and corrupt of crimes. Treasoners broke the most basic of oaths to their fellow countrymen.
We should help Mexicans in Mexico, not in the United States. And those siding with them to remain here should reread their Pledge of Allegiance, regardless of their heritage.
Thanks for keeping your Pledge, Aaron. Your fellow Americans appreciate it.
Aaron,
It would be useful if you would tell us a bit more about your interaction with the cop. I didn’t think they would ask someone for ID if they had no other reason for interacting with the person.
Perhaps I’m wrong. There was an article ( http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/09/15/news/local/25-lamigra.txt )in the Billings (Montana) Gazette which was supplemented by online readers’ comments from someone claiming to be a Border Patrol agent in Laredo. This commenter, “BPLaredo,” says that race can be considered relevant in detaining people for immigration investigations — and it doesn’t bear only on Hispanics. If interested, search the comments section below the article for comments by BPLaredo. Look, in particular, for the phrase “articulable fact.” BPLaredo’s many comments seem to hang together, suggesting to me that he is who he says he is.
Still, I’d expect there’d be a distinction on this between local cops and full-fledged Border Patrol officers.
It can easily be argued, and quite successfully, that Aaron is only looking out for his best interests as an American and this helps other Americans as he already pointed out. By allowing the massive illegal immigration, we are literally giving this nation to the elites, and as everyone has witnessed by now, the greed of this people on Wall Street and the Eastern Establishment, is such that it cannot be mitigated not matter how much profit they make. It is one of the reasons I am so hard on the Democrats, who will not wise up on this issue. Forget the Republicans, they are so clueless, that it’s hopeless to expect the Republcian estanblishment to understand the problems of working people. But what in the h-ll is the Democrats excuse under Nancy Pelosi and Reid ?? Their platform empowers the RAZA groups and everyone else, other than American citizens.
Thank you Mr. Crespo. And to Tim: There are thousands if not milions of Americans of Hispanic heritage who stand with the majority of mainstream Americans in wanting our immigration laws to be enforced, our borders secured and employers of illegal aliens to be prosecuted. See, http://www.dontspeakforme.org
We have helped Mexicans in Mexico to the tune of billions of dollars. Most recently Bush pledged 1.4 billion of OUR tax dollars to Mexico to fight the failed drug war. Our soldiers are not allowed on their sovereign soil to help fight this war either.
America cannot go on shelling out billions of dollars to a corrupt government. It’s time to deport all illegal aliens and demand their governments take responsibility for their own.
Thank you Aaron for being a true American and standing for your country!
legalatina-Thanks for the link. I probably sounded as though I think all Latinos support this invasion. I don’t think that but I am disappointed that so many Latino U.S. Citizens have chosen to support the invading Mexicans over their fellow U.S. countrymen. It makes it that much harder on Latino U.S. Citizens who have maintained their loyalty to their fellow countrymen.
Bobby-as far as Pelosi and Reid go, Pelosi is from a family that has been closely associated with organized crime in the past. Reid is probably pretty much owned by the Nevada casinos, which own everything in Nevada, including many of the judges all the way to the Nevada Supreme Court. The casinos have gotten used to cheap Mexican labor and don’t want to give it up. So Reid has his marching orders from the casinos. Since Nevada and it’s casinos have always been closely associated with organized crime to some degree, I think his behavior is likely influenced by that as well.
The mob is heavy into the construction trades in a lot of places. They own construction companies that get lucrative government contracts through their mob-backed politicians. Likewise, they tend to infiltrate the management of labor unions so as to control the pension funds and the policies. When I hear that a labor union supports amnesty, I immediately assume that it’s mobbed up. Amnesty will dump a huge supply of labor that competes against union members, thus driving their wages down through supply and demand. If the management of a labor union convinces their members that amnesty is good, then they can cause wages to go down, which benefits the mob-backed construction companies. In other words, mobbed-up union management sells out it’s own members.
That’s my take anyway.
Tim, I absolutely agree with you on mobbed up labor unions. I saw it personally in the meat packing industry which I worked for in my younger years. Excellent post. Right,on about Reid and Pelosi. It is really pathetic how some of the liberal democrats near worship these corrupt people.
Thanks for using logic when writing this article. It is hard to find latinos and hispanics today that dont want to open the borders to anyone and everyone. As Americans we have a duty to protect the freedom and independence of our country. Illegal immigration undermines our laws and culture. I see illegals flying the mexican flag above the American flag. This disgusts me so much i nearly puke. Our soldiers and veterans did not die by the hundreds of thousands so that illegal immigrants can fly thier flag above ours. What disgusts me further is how i constantly see on the news that illegals have been here for 10-25 years and cant speak ONE WORD of English. I learned near fluent spanish is 3 years. How can they not even know a single sentence or greeting in English when they have been here for so long? The answer is that we cater to them. The liberals make us feel like we have to bow down to them or else we are labeled racists. We have to have signs, menus, phones, answering machines, applications, etc, all in spanish.
Theodore Roosevelt said it best in 1907 when he said we have room for 1 official language and 1 flag here in America.