Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Arizona Immigration Law SB 1070

Goldman Sachs is the target of Congressional hearings for its alleged role in the financial meltdown of 2008, the TEA Party demanding reduced spending and smaller government--and Arizona has stolen the thunder from all with its new immigration legislation--SB 1070. Just as this bill was being signed into law, I was watching an episode of 30 Days in which a Minuteman spent 30 days living with an illegal immigrant family of seven.

In the episode, the minuteman, a Cuban immigrant himself, visited the Mexican hometown of the family--in all its abject poverty. It truly was a sad situation. Yet there are millions of other sad and sadder situations throughout the world. My daughter, who is extremely compassionate, expressed her deepest sympathy and support of the family taking the trek to and living within the borders of the US illegally. She asked me what I thought about it. I explained to her that while I am certainly sympathetic to the plight of that family and others in situations like that, I do not condone their presence here illegally. I explained that there are legal means of immigrating here. Moreover, there are thousands of people in line who have gone through the proper channels. She still insisted that what they had done was okay. I love and admire her for such independence of thought.

I provided my daughter with this analogy. What that family has done is essentially walked into the home of someone else as a stowaway so to speak. I asked my daughter if it would be okay for us to go into the basement of a home in Buckhead and live there in secrecy below the family that owns or has rightful claim to that home because we found this home to be better than ours. If we were to do that, I explained, the family owning that home could and in all likelihood would have us arrested and removed. As they should. There are homes and neighborhoods all across metro Atlanta that I would love to call mine. Some that might offer much better schools and opportunities than my current place of residence. Nonetheless, I am choosing the legal means of living there. If illegal immigrants are granted amnesty, what of all those who are going through the legal process of citizenship? What are we really encouraging here? Are drug dealers excused of their crimes simply because they are looking for a better life for their family?

If they are given citizenship after illegally coming and residing here, I'm on my way to Buckhead to claim my house and I'll request amnesty. Sure, it may be a private property, but let's go all out.