Immigration Protests

THere were about 100 full fledged protests yesterday afternoon regarding the bill that President Bush wants to pass charging everyone involved with illegal immigrants, or at least helping them to make a new start. Many of hte Republicans and Democrats for that matter want a change. They want to close down the borders, grant harsher penalties for people who aid these "fugitives" and deport people on a more regular basis. So yesterday afternoon thousands and thousands of people crowded the streets, proving what i guessed all along- that America is a country based on immigration.

Imagine if your family had been turned away at the border fifty or one hundred or two hundred years ago. Imagine if your grandfather, who arrived at Ellis Island with a dime in his pocket, had immediately been sent back to Japan or Europe or Ireland. What kind of country are we to preach the importance of religious freedom and a "dream", when we don't want people to have a shot at that dream? We already don't give them much of a chance. Many of them are unable to get green cards and thus havev to work illegally for ridiculous amounts of money, barely scraping by.

Americans have so many resources, so much STUFF at our fingertips. We produce more than half of the world's annual amount of garbage and yet make up less than 20% of the world population. We can go shopping and have thousands of items to choose from. I think about all the Russians who were forced to wait in line just for the chance to get a loaf of stale bread and I am shocked that anyone would turn them away when they come here and see a glittering array of brands and ingredients. Who are we to decide who gets to come in and who stays out? In theory, we were the ones who marched in here and got rid of the "Savages" already running this country for thousands of years before we knew about it. I'm sad that it even has to be an issue.

What should have been an issue was making sure that the immigrants could receive the correct paperwork, that they could get health insurance, have a warm, clean place to live, have schools nearby for their children, be able to get to work. We could make sure they understood enough English to get by, provide them with literacy tutoring. There are so many ways we could help the new people coming into our country. There are so many ways we should want to work with them, want to help them in ways maybe we didn't have when our ancestors were coming in.

The whole image of America has been based on immigration. Without it, the country would not exist. It doesn't matter if you're second or tenth generation here, you came from somewhere, and unless you're Native American you didn't come from here. I wonder what descent Bush's family is, where they came from, how they got to this land. If the thought of his great grandparents being turned away from the border doean't affect him, then I w ould have to say we have an actual unfeeling dictator sitting in the Oval Office. i'm tempted to say that now regardless.

That was what was so great about yesterday. Was that all these immigrants from everywhere but particularly Mexico and Puerto Rico and South American, pulled together as one group and marched. Marched for what was promised them on reaching American soil- life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.