I get angry any time I hear the right wingers or the government talk about closing the border and restricting immigrants, legal or illegal.
The right wingers say these people are breaking the law just by coming here, so that makes them criminals.
Hogwash.
People don't divide themselves up by race or color or national origin or the languages they speak. They divide themselves by their values, their beliefs and their actions.
Over the years, as a reporter and a teacher, I have met many people from foreign countries who were good trustworthy people with good moral and ethical values, with a good work ethic. I would be proud to have these folks as friends and neighbors.
Yet many of them have been illegal immigrants. They come here to make a better life for their families. They work hard to get ahead and they bring their relatives here to join them.
Does that sound criminal to you?
I believe we should have a coherent national immigration policy that would welcome people who want to come here and work or get an education and start a business.
Of course we should weed out the criminals. No more Tony Montanas, please. (The "hero" of "Scarface," the movie.)
Just because people come here from Latin America or Asia or Europe, that doesn't make them bad people.
We should stand at the border and shake their hands and help them get started. By helping them, we would help the whole country, ourselves included. And we would be doing the right thing. For a change.
-- Roger
Copyright © 2011, Roger R. Angle
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