COLUMN: No room for huddled masses
So far no current government leader has done much to inspired me on the topic of immigration reform. Currently, our policy is to track Them down, round Them up and kick Them out. And as everyone in American knows, “Them” refers to Mexicans.
While this policy may seem plausible in regards to gang bangers and drug dealers, it’s a different story for the hard-working meat plant employee whose children are left parentless after their unexplained deportation.
Of course, the government has come up with another option. It’s a grand portrayal of American idiocy that took no time to think up and billions to pay for – the construction of a barbed wire fence stretching most of the border between the U.S. and Mexico. The loop hole, however, is that anyone with a brain or a pair of wire cutters will be through that fence before Bush finishes a bag of pretzels.
Both Barack Obama and John McCain share this dream of building a fence, a physical object conveniently as tall as the everyday ladder. But this new barrier also does more than elevate the boarder 15 feet; sadly, it also places an unfair stigma on Mexicans. But are all illegal immigrants Mexicans?
The answer, of course, is no, but they are an easy target for the government to focus on and say, “Hey, look at us, we’re doing something.”
With every inch of chain link fence that becomes part of our very own Berlin Wall, we are slowly dehumanizing a group of people. This fence alongside the constant portrayal of dark-skinned, illegal immigrants has changed the way we look at our Latin neighbors.
Furthermore, it’s almost as if our brains are being programmed to judge any person of Latin decent as a potential “alien.” We’ve named the Latino population public enemy number one, and for what? Are the illegal immigrants from Mexico taking any jobs you’re dying to have?
And while we all sit back and blame illegal immigrants for freeloading on health care and American jobs, no one has forcefully gone after the true culprits who promote the behavior by hiring them. Who can blame illegal immigrants for coming here in hopes of getting out of a bad environment and then taking a job that was gladly handed to them?
An explanation to this problem that has been mentioned is the process to become a legal citizen is tedious and inefficient. Luckily, one of our presidential hopefuls can see beyond a fence, and if Obama sticks to what he’s proposed, hopefully things will change.
On his Web site Obama states, “Obama and Biden believe we must fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill.” He also states that this will decrease incentives to come into the U.S. illegally.
McCain, on the other hand, mentions nothing about the inadequate immigration policy. Currently, there are approximately 3.5 million people waiting to get green cards, as reported by a recent New York Times article, and some of those people having been on that list for more than two decades.
Faced with these staggering numbers, no wonder so many people are coming into the country illegally. Wasn’t our nation founded by huddled masses from across the world seeking a better life?
Apparently not, because all the government can offer are ways to kick people out, and hardly give an ear to the option of helping people in.
Greg Boyles is a junior majoring in print journalism. Questions or comments can be sent to him at greg.boyles@aggiemail.usu.edu