On one hand, I read comments such as this:
Nineth Castillo, a 26-year-old waitress from Guatemala who joined the Atlanta march, said she has lived in the United States for 11 years “without a scrap of paper.”
Asked whether she was afraid to parade her undocumented status in front of a massive police presence, she laughed and said: “Why? They kick us out, we’re coming back tomorrow.”
(source)
On the other hand, I remember this:
19 For behold, are we not all abeggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?
(Mosiah 4:19)
My ancestors were immigrants. America should let people into the country-- I don't think anyone is going to dispute that. But here's why I'm confused: for every thought I have on either side of the issue I have several counter thoughts. Examples:
It should be easy for immigrants from poor countries to come here and obtain some kind of permit where they can live as citizens; pay taxes and earn money. But then what about terrorism? Shouldn't we protect our borders and make sure we don't get attacked? What about voting rights, do we let them do that?
I also won't pretend that seeing marches of protest to the enforcement of laws pertaining to illegal immigrants doesn't incense me. And why do so many of you protesters insist on waving the flag of your nation of origin? I don't get it.
This is a complex issue with many deep emotions and racial tensions. I hope it gets sorted out and soon.
4 comments:
Yes! We are all beggars! But if there's one thing we can learn from the atonement it's that mercy cannot rob justice!
Note I didn't say that we should just give them amnesty.
Someone's reading way into what I'm writing. :)
Yeah. To say it's a complex issue is to understate it. Personally I'm against the current bill since it grants legal status to all the illegal immigrants here already. To me that's a huge affront to the rule of law. Plus, what will we do in another five or ten years when we have yet another twelve million illegal immigrants?
To me, the answer is not to grant the illegal immigrants no status, but to open up the borders a lot more. If they're going to come in anyway, we might as well make it easy for them to do it legally so that we can track this sort of thing and so they can pay taxes. Right now it's a free ride for illegals because none of their income is taxed, but they take advantage of the healthcare, education, and other services.
Plus, I may be an elitist or racist or whatever label given, but I also think speaking English needs to be a requirement at some point. Maybe not for entry into the country, but at least for full citizenship.
Er, I meant "to grant the illegals no legal status and to open up..."
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