Yesterday my boss and I had a rare conversation that didn't involve work, and we got to talking about the immigration demonstrations taking place. I can't say that I was completely surprised by her attitude because she did vote for Bush-Cheney twice and for Arnold, but still...
Her position on illegal immigration was that life could be hard and that was a shame, but that Mexican economic issues were Vicente Fox' problem and not ours. I pointed out that there did seem to be some degree of bias in the emphasis on the southern border, and she said she didn't really have a problem with that. I asked her if she had any thoughts on the proposal to make illegal immigration a felony and she just dismissed that out of hand saying, "It'll never pass." Then it got a little surreal...
I asked how she could maintain such unsympathetic views given that her first language was Spanish. She responded that these migrants were different, not like her grandparents when they came across in 1940. These migrants, in her view, weren't committed to the U.S., but to providing for their families in Mexico and returning to Mexico at the earliest opportunity. Why, they don't even have established businesses and phone numbers. They only have cell phones, and can't be found from one year to the next if she wants them to do more work around her home.
She also mentioned that migrant families received more services for her tax dollars than she did, especially because she had to pay all those taxes for schools and her daughter goes to a private school. She acknowledged that this was generally true of all poor people though and not just migrant families. You've got to feel for those Republicans.
Okay, I admit that I have issues with the flags. Display the American flag right side up, and don't display the flags of other countries at all. I'm a huge fan of the freedom of speech, but I get this visceral response to disrespect of our flag.
Other than that I personally think we're overdue for recognition that the migrants are here, they've always been here, and we don't really and truly want them to go away. Deal with it.
1 comment:
That did evolve into a surreal conversation! Your head must have been spinning.
I find it hard to believe people are not more than a little distressed at the idea of making the illegal immigrants presence in the U.S. a felony. Even for those who have a rigid approach to resolving the problems, seems to me that is really beyond excessive to say the least.
I share your view that our flag deserves respect, but I don't think passing another law, as has been proposed, does anything to stimulate that feeling. If anything, I think it fans the flames for the opposite in those already inclined to want to "push the limits" on anything they can find to exploit and draw attention to themselves.
To digress from your topic, where are all the bloggers in So. Cal.? There are so many issues that need to be discussed, so many more voices that are needed in the dialogue.
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