When Mike came home tonight, the first thing he asked me was, "Did you read the story in the Union about the Vista woman who was caught in the Tecate fire?" I was in the middle of cooking a chinese dinner; after a few moments I was able to sit down and have a cup of coffee with him. No, I said, I didn't have a chance to go there today. "She died, but prepare yourself for the comments after the story", he said.
Mother Of 4 Burned Near Tecate Dies Of Injuries
By, Leslie Berestein
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How tragic, and how disgusting the venomous remarks made by San Diegans, it is embarrassing. In many ways this reminded me of the Robert Roels story I was asked to comment on,and I must tell you, I hesitate before entering discussions on immigration, because if you believe, as I do, that laws must be abided by, you are automatically branded a racist.
I do not appreciate protesters waving the Mexican flag through our streets no more than I am sure the Mexicans would appreciate it if I, as a legal resident here would wave the American flag through their streets. I am aware of the drain on our economy and health services by illegals, yet I am also aware of the hard work they perform, and the general sincerity of their motives. But I am also aware that these are not the 1940's, this is not the time of the old Bracero Program (which, for the most part, was a good program) and one mans desperation to support his family is now in reality, another mans avenue to commit crime against US citizens. Yes, the flow across our Border is made up of desperate people who are seeking work, but it is also made up of criminals who have no intention to work. I do not accept the argument that because their ancestors were here before we were that they automatically are entitled to live here without meeting requirements, I have noticed in that argument they seem to forget that the Spaniards brutally wiped out Native Americans during their occupation. And, if I accepted that argument, that means that since my ancestors were Jews from Germany and Irish from Ireland, that I could go to those countries and claim residence, whenever I felt like it.
Let me say this, without law we are reduced to chaos. We cannot be a country without law. But neither can we be a country that lays the blame on the victims, reduced to racist and vile hate. Both the United States and Mexico are to blame for this problem, with millions of people caught up in the middle. It seems to me that we have two sides here, the two extremes: one side says let everyone in, the other says build a wall and keep 'em out.
And, both sides seem to be missing an opportunity which keeps presenting itself over and over again, what are the alternatives, and how, as a civilized people can we address this problem and create healthy living conditions, where people abide by the law and do not live in a state of fear, on either side. In fact, I don't even hear the Democratic candidates talking about immigration, no one will touch this issue with a ten foot pole, but what we do hear are threats and counter threats from both sides, and they are escalating.
As an American, I am not allowed to become involved in Mexican politics, but I can offer an opinion. Mexico needs to start taking care of her people, and Mexico needs to instead of granting carte blanche to the population and celebrating illegal border crossers as heroes, start issuing visas. How can Mexico take care of her people? Good question. Perhaps with legitimate loans from the free world, develop industry with human rights and environmental standards in place to put people to work. And, I'm not talking about Japanese investment which only furthers the Maquiladora nightmares, where the wealth is kept only by the very few and rest is slave labor and the environment is ransacked. Can you imagine instead of this ridiculous Iraq quagmire, the billions we have spent and the billions we have given away to people like Musharaff, can you imagine if just a small portion of that had been invested in Mexico to help her build a strong and healthy country that could meet the needs of her people?
How practical would it be for the United States to legalize marijuana, take the power away from the Cartels, a corrupting influence beyond belief in Mexico? After all, the fact is, we have lost the drug war, and we are pouring billions into a complete lost cause, our prisons are overflowing; why not invest in treatment centers?
And the anti- Mexican immigrants in the United States really need to stop and take a very long look at who in America exacerbates this problem. Ask yourselves, who were the lobbyists against immigration reform: Big agri-business, the service industries and the hotel owners to name a few. Who is employing these people under the table? Who? Americans are, that's who, and they are profiting from it big time with little else but a mild slap on the hand when they are caught.
NAFTA has created an exodus of people from Mexico into the United States. It is a huge disaster for both countries, we need to quit NAFTA, period.
So, the fence builders want a return to isolationism and for the Mexicans to do a complete about face and just change everything in their country overnight. It's not realistic. In fact, there is potential for a situation like that to explode and then we are left with a very unstable nation as our neighbor.
Let's get beyond this absolute morbid stupidity of painting a situation black or white. We need leaders on both sides, from both countries to develop alternatives which are fair and humane. And, we need for supporters on both sides of this issue to start thinking instead of hating.
Adios Maria, rest in peace. I'm so sorry.
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Goodnight, from Baja California.
Labels: HEARTLESS SAN DIEGO
