Immigration

Created Dec 31 2007 

I don't usually try to make my blog page a forum for my opinions. I found that, when I was managing my web site and generating content, it made me sound petty and impressed with my own self-image.

That's not who I am.

Here, I prefer to find something and bring it back, and say "Isn't this KEWL?" or "maybe you should give this some thought?"

I'd rather post real poetry than try to impress you with my own. I'd rather let someone like Jefferson or Thomas Paine say the words I'm thinking.

Every once in a while, I find something that makes me want to speak out:

From: lucecorner.stumbleupon.com [stumbleupon.com]
dated: Dec 31st, 11:05 am

"I need your help PLEASE.

Last week my son received a letter stating that he does not have the moral character to become a citizen. He will be deported back to South Africa because he unknowingly voted illegally, after being told by voter campaigners that it was legal.

We have until January 7, 2008 to appeal.

My family has been in this country for 10 years. My husband and I are citizens. As required by law, my son registered for Selective Service when he turned 18.

Shortly thereafter, he ran across a group of campaigners registering students to vote in the upcoming elections. They promised him that since he was registered for Selective Service, he was eligible to vote. This was not true.

At our family's citizenship interviews, our son's application was rejected after he volunteered the information that he had voted in an election. That he freely volunteered the information shows that he had no intention to defraud the government or anyone. Our many letters to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services have met with no reply. We have met with our local congressman with no result.

Part of the reasoning behind the 26th amendment of the U.S. Constitution in 1970 was that citizens who could be drafted to fight in a die for the U.S. should be able to determine its direction by voting. Can't this logic be extrapolated to include forgiveness for unintentional transgressions that hurt no one?

We will present this petition to our senator and the INS. If you feel in your heart that you can support us, please sign this petition.

gopetition.com/online/15886.html [gopetition.com]
Fund for legal fees

~ lu

If anyone has any suggestions for us, please please email me ASAP. We need all the help we can get.

Email: Lucecorner@gmail.com

Thank you tonyfor24, for the help in setting it up.

Thanks Xin and Digi for helping to write it.

Thanks for the idea, Antidotes.

Thank you in advance for signing.

Thanks to Remixboy who is setting up facebook en myspace pages."

What am I to make of all this? One of my objections to pure libertarianism has been their support of full rights for illegal immigrants. I accept their position as being legitimate; illegal immigrants are most likely employed in ten times the number of positions than there are natural born unemployed Americans to fill them. Add to that the fact that the positions are geographically scattered and would require unemployed Americans to relocate. That is, if they have the skill set to take over such positions.

I also accept just how unfair immigration policies have been to those who legitimately want to become Americans. The policies we have now, and those advocated by the "fenced border" crowds, only enable the criminal classes to profit from smuggling.

But, I am concerned what a more lenient policy will mean to the concept of citizenship. I am concerned that we may legalize policies that allow foreign powers to have undue influence over our government. I am concerned that, contrary to the popular belief amongst libertarians, many of these illegal immigrants are mercenary in motive, and have no real interest in being participating citizens in our country.

It's not like I disrespect those immigrants that have contributed to the United States. Remember the "boat people" of the 70s?*

The "boat people" of the 1970s* fled their respective countries and resettled in America. Mostly, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Frequently exposed to blatant discrimination and racism, they managed to eke out a living and become a fixture of their communities. Then, Hurricane Katrina hit.**

Then there are the refugees from Cuba. Those Iranians who fled during the deposing of Shah Pahlavi. The refugees from the Congo. Many people who came to America, not just for economic opportunities, but the chance to live in a democracy. I respect them all for their fortitude, and the fact that they responded to the call of liberty.

But, that isn't the whole story of immigration. There are those who flee extradition from their own countries, those who victimize immigrant communities. Those who profit on suffering and victimizing. Those who seek to take advantage of us.

This is why I'm ambivalent about all the politics revolving about the immigration issue. I want to end suffering of those like lucecorner and her family. I firmly believe there are those who have earned their right to be citizens, and who I would be proud to consider my fellow citizens. But, I want to keep America free. I want to ensure that future generations will know the same kind of America that the founding fathers proposed.

And, I have no idea how that's going to be accomplished...
* encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-E-boatpeopl.html [encyclopedia.com]

** msnbc.msn.com/id/10995079 [msn.com]
workpermit.com/news/2005_09_07/us/hurricane_katrina_vietnamese.htm [workpermit.com]
iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/21/america/NA-GEN-US-Toxic-Trailers-Vietnamese.... [iht.com]