Wishing for Immigration Reform

There was an article in the Dispatch last week about Jason and his wife and their three year old little girl. Jason's wife came to this country illegally, some years ago without documentation. Now Jason has petitioned on behalf of his wife, so that she can be legally here. Now Jason's wife has to wait in Mexico to recieve her visa. She could be waiting three months to ten years!

In the meantime Jason and their little girl miss her terribly every day. There is something not right here. Our immigration system is hurting good people. They are not terrorists. The only law that was broken was crossing the border without permission, which if you understood the reasons why most people risk their lives to cross the border into the United States, perhaps there would be more compassion.

Most of us have no idea the kind of misery the poor suffer. If the only jobs available only pay $10 a day, and your ailing parent needs medical care that costs ten times that and can't get medical attention unless there is payment up front, then what would you do? Would you just watch him or her die?

I was asked to submit a comment to that article on-line which I did, but I was sickened at many of the other racist narrow minded comments. Most could not get past the "illegal" label. When we start labeling and name calling, we begin to dehumanize and demonize people. The Japanese became "Japs" and "gooks"American Blacks "niggars" Jews "Kikes" the list goes on, but the purpose of this hateful rhetoric is to dehumanize and demonize so that the attack is justified.

We have to be very watchful and vigilant against this kind of talk, because before you know it, it begins to grow and more and more people begin to think and talk that way without realizing it.

Immigrants who cross the border are human brings, people like you and me with parents, brothers and sisters, and husbands and wives with children to take care of. They have hard lives and in desparation risk their lives to come to the U.S.

Stella, I wasn't going to tell you this, because it was too upsetting, but there was a message on the answering machine at the Casa.... "you sound like you have sh-t in you mouth....you're all a bunch of god-d-m, f-ing cockroaches!" I instinctively hit the delete button, but the venom hung in the air. A vision of Nazi thugs beating up Jews in back alleys flashed through my mind. No, this cannot happen here....

We need to alert the community and do everything we can to promote Comprehensive Immigration Reform.