Today, it was announced that the government will no longer pursue deportation cases against undocumented immigrants who were brought here as children, and will issue them work permits if they have a clean criminal record and have either finished high school or served in the military. Needless to say, the comments on stories about this move have exploded with right-wingers who find this step objectionable. It is true that using an executive order to get around a bill that didn't pass Congress looks a little fishy -- but an executive order isn't permanent like a law is, the DREAM Act *did* have majority support in both houses, and when there's a problem and the people who should be solving it are doing nothing then someone has to act.
And make no mistake -- there is a problem, and it's not what all those commenters think it is. The numbers make it clear -- the Department of Homeland Security doesn't have nearly enough resources to deport evey single illegal immigrant in the United States. I don't know about you, but I would rather they concentrate on the criminals, even if it means ignoring kids who didn't come by their own choice but who love this country as their home -- in some cases, enough to die for it. So you want them to go after all the illegals? Fine -- then support a massive increase in federal spending to hire, train, and employ the staff that would be needed and to build and maintain facilities for them to use. And support the tax increase that would be needed to pay for it.
A popular argument is that undocumented immigrants are taking American jobs. Actually, they're taking the jobs that Americans can't or won't do. If you don't want to follow the link, I'll sum it up -- Alabama's crackdown on illegal immigration resulted in crops rotting in the fields, because of the very few people who could be found to take the jobs, the majority couldn't hack it. Anyone who eats commercially grown produce or chicken has absolutely no moral authority to make this argument.
I consider myself a proud descendant of illegal immigrants -- because the Jamestown settlers weren't invited by the Native Americans of the area, they just showed up and started building. We are a nation of immigrants, and unfortunately, that includes multiple examples of recent arrivals being looked down upon by those who have been here for a couple of generations. It's all part of the inexorable ebb and flow of history, in the course of which changes will occur. Rome went from kingdom to republic to Empire, then finally fell from its dominant position in Europe. Russia went from monarchy to communist state to... well, at the moment, to a mess. Transitions like these occur over and over again in history; did people seriously think that the U.S. was somehow immune to that? Empires rise and fall, the nature of a nation changes over time. Standing still and insisting that this inevitable process stop will only get you run over and left behind.
So my message to the people who come here to make a better life for themselves and their families is, Welcome! You are following in the footsteps of the people who made this country what it is today, and you will help to make it what it is tomorrow. If that means a white minority and bilingual traffic signs, then so be it -- nothing stays the same in this world. And if people want to try to hold back that tide, they need to put their money where their mouth is by supporting federal hiring, raising and slaughtering their own poultry, and encouraging their kids to apply as farmhands when they're looking for that first summer job. If theire not willing to do that, then they really should keep their hate to themselves and go read some history books.
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