OMG! It appears that McFly and I *actually* agree on something for a change...
"Imagine turning more than 11 million people into criminals, and anyone who helps them," said Angela Sanbrano, executive director of the Central American Resource Center of Los Angeles, one of the organizers of Saturday's rally there. "It's outrageous. We needed to send a strong and clear message to Congress and to President Bush that the immigrant community will not allow the criminalization of our people — and it needed to be very strong because of the anti-immigrant environment that we are experiencing in Congress."
Yes, it is outrageous. Completely, and totally outrageous.
It's outrageous to think that anyone with one good eye, and a spoonful of brains can actually stand up and publicly state that illegal immigrants do, or should, have any rights here at all. That they have a right to be here, simply because they are here. Or were fortunate enough to have given birth to a child while inside our country.
But turning 11 million illegal aliens into instant criminals may not be the answer either. Do we put them in jail, at the expense of the U. S. citizery? Or deport them? What would stop them from coming back? Tougher sentencing if they get caught? If deporting them doesn't work, are we stuck imprisoning them? Or executing them?
Perhaps something more effective might be in order. I don't know that I have the answer. Damming the Rio Grande? Building a militarized or somehow 'toxic' zone between the U.S. and Mexico?
"It's not fair to workers here to just kick them out without giving them a legal way to be here," said Fabricio Fierros, 18, the American-born son of mushroom-pickers who came to the United States illegally from Mexico. "To be treated as criminals after all the work they did isn't fair."
What has the quantity of work performed while being an illegal immigrant got to do with ANYTHING? Does coming here illegally and performing work all of a suddenly entitle this kid's father the right to stay?
There is in fact, a process to become legal immigrants and subsequently, legal citizens. But crossing the border illegally beforehand, then protesting that you have the right to stay isn't it.
More -
From: http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/26/immigration/
A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center found that about 7.2 million illegal immigrants held jobs in the United States, making up 4.9 percent of the overall labor force. Undocumented workers made up 24 percent of farmworkers and held 14 percent of construction jobs, the study found.
While I am less inclined to comment on the 24% of farmworkers, since they're usually grossly underpaid as it is, construction workers are usually some of the best paid laborer in the country (seasonal as it can be). And keep in mind that these are untaxed wages as well, nor are they the kinds of jobs that 'no American wants to take'.
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