| I am so happy that its Friday. Our offices were closed yesterday in rememberance of Veteran's Day. I spent the day cleaning the house and working on the yard. It was a beautiful sunny day. Tomorrow will be the 11 yr anniversary for my husband and I. He sent me flowers today. I snapped a picture with my cell phone- 
My hubby is very sweet. I got him a new golf bag, but won't give it to him until tomorrow. So today I was browsing on the internet when I found an article on Yahoo about Latinos in Arizona. According to the article 100,000 Latinos have left the state recently presumably as a result of SB1070-immigration law. After reading the article I began to read some of the 200 comments left by readers. Let me begin by saying that I usually make it a point of keeping my political and religious views to myself-at work and around certain individuals-usually people who I feel are close minded and who refuse to see other's point of view. The issue of immigrant is near and dear to me simply because I am the child of Mexican immigrants. My parents came here (legally) in search of work and a better life. I have always lived in areas that are predominantly populated by Mexicans all my life. I am not ashamed to speak, read and write Spanish fluently. So my perspective on this issue is very different from people who are non-Latinos, or whose ancestors came here hundreds of years ago. In reading the comments I felt many different emotions-anger, sadness, disgust, etc. I was tempted to add a comment myself then realized that it would fall upon deaf ears, these people are so blinded by their hate that nothing I could say would change that. I find it ironic that many people who have their ideology claim to be "Christian". The most difficult thing for me is how people make people who are here illegally non-human. Even in the terminology-illegal alien.Apparently aliens are not limited to outer space. I think they do so in an effort to dehumanize these people. The less human they are the easier it is to hate them by comparing them to roaches, and making very stupid assumptions. Yes, these people have broken the law by coming here without the proper documents/visa, etc. but what many don't realize is they did so out of necessity. If I am a mother and my child is straving to death I am not going to sit by and let them die, I will do whatever I can to feed them. If if means walking across a dessert for one week with little or no food, its a sacrifice I am willing to make in order to help my family. True, among illegal immigrants there are criminals, bad-seeds, what have you, but how is that different from other groups living in this country? I am not blind to the fact that these individuals exist, but do not believe they are more predisposed to a life of crime simply because of their DNA. Go to any jail, prison or correctional institution in this country and you will find people from all backgrounds, not just illegals from Mexico. . As someone who works for a government institution I can tell you that they DO NOT qualify for public assistance, unemployement, food stamps, SSI, etc. and yes they do pay taxes-sales tax, etc. I could go on and on about this issue but like I said earlier, I know no amount of data is sufficient for the hate mongers to change their perspective. I remember a comedian once said that white people hate us so much yet they love Mexican food, like to party in Mexico for spring break and lay out in the sun for hours just to look like us..lol.... If you have never met a Mexican. let me tell you-we are not all lazy, criminals, dirty, uneducated. I am proud to say that within my immediate family of 24 (siblings, spouses, children, great grandchildren) none of us have a ever been to jail or prison, all 7 of my siblings (and myself) are home owners, 4 of us have Master's degrees, 1 is currently working on her PhD. None of us have ever had to apply for welfare or food stamps. We vote, we pay our taxes and one of my brothers retired from the Marines after 25 years of service. Please don't make the assumption that every Mexican you encounter is here illegally and those who are (illegal) for the most part, are here out of necessity. Last and more importantly-Mexicans are human and deserve to be treated as such.... |
