To Wall or Not to Wall

In his essay To Wall or Not to Wall Goldberg, presents two sides of the immigration issue. As a person with intimate experience with the immigration process, here in the US, I can say that the immigration process is not in any way lax; nor is it lenient. Those who enter the US legally and go through all the proper channels, are guaranteed to be upstanding individuals with no health issues, and they will not be a burden to US tax payers. The issue of people entering illegally is serious. Not only is there concern for the unnecessary burden these individuals will place upon taxpayers, there is a completely unrecognized issue. The issue of people dying trying to cross into the US illegally, as well as the power and control exerted over those who are here illegally.

Just by crossing the US border illegally an immigrant places themselves in harms way for many years. Without documentation, these people are at the mercy of coyotes, drug cartels, employers, and spouses.  At any time, one in a position of power in these individuals’ lives, could treat them unfairly and even inhumanly. They can be extorted, bribed, underpaid, and physically and mentally abused, with very little legal recourse. Though the US has in place organizations to deal with these issues, the amount of souls entering and falling into these traps is staggering.

What is worrisome is the distance these people will travel to get their piece of the American Dream. Some to end up abused extorted and degenerated by American citizens, as they know how low these people fall in social status. I believe there should be a wall, not to keep people out, but to save peoples lives.

While reading an article about the staggering numbers of UID’s (unidentified immigrant deaths), I have been made aware of the humanitarian crisis illegal immigration has created. People walk for hours, through the Arizona desert, in order to cross into the US. Hundreds of them die and end up in the hands of the Arizona coroner. Many of these people are not identified and families are left with no word. They literally starve and roast in the Arizona sun. The humanitarian issues aside, this costs Arizona taxpayers thousands of dollars.

A wall and a solid immigration policy will ensure that these souls will not risk their lives for not. The increase of legal applications will help take the burden of immigrants off of the US citizens. Something must be done for these souls risking their lives trying to come to the US undocumented. If they know there is a chance, they will take it. If they are aware that the legal avenue is the only opportunity they have, they will take it. If they will risk their own lives, to cross now illegally, while it is an option, they will find a way to do it legally if it is the only option offered to them.

I agree with Goldberg, unless immigration is reformed in a manner that takes into consideration all of the relevant issues it will remain chaotic and people will dye, and become victims and a burden to US tax payers, until it is well thought out and implemented. I truly believe a wall and a strong immigration policy are the only solution. It will save lives.

 http://www.lee.net/awards/2010/news/tucson-bodies/bodies2.pdf

Hiding from Change

I recently read a short essay by Sara Yoest Pederson, she was commenting on the difficulty she had finding a particular children's book. This book sounded wonderful to me as it was about a child with two mothers. It is heartening to know there is a generation of children growing up right now, who may have a broader idea of what the word family means. Most important, they are not trying to squeeze themselves into that narrow model, depriving themselves of the freedom to be who they truly are. To know that in the not so distant future, same sex families will enjoy much of the freedoms traditional families take for granted, uplifts me. 

Freedom and change. As we grow as a society we learn to change. We learn to accept those around us for who they are; we learn that people, humans, are not box able. The complex circuitry of the human mind will always defy any limitations we place upon it. When a model is created for happiness, health, beliefs or religion, eventually that model will fall off to be recreated by the individuals who defied being defined. Every category made up of souls, will have exceptions. Not just exceptions, every soul will embrace some of the group thought and then have their own internal dialog.

Those who cannot acknowledge the impossibility of categorizing the human being will always live in a world of contradictions. Though they may want to be an ostrich and hide from this simple truth, in the end they will simply become hypocrites. For every sexual, religious or social deviant, who is brave enough to be themselves, there is one bottled up automaton human dying to allow themselves that very same freedom. From that bottling comes jealousy, and of that, is born hate. 

It is easier to hide than to outwardly express hate. How many have found themselves hiding from issues rather than facing them head on? To acknowledge jealousy and hate one must acknowledge the deviant within dying to get free. To face that, means ultimately facing oneself. Honestly coming to terms with sexual desire, beliefs, anger, hurt, greed and hate. Seeing it all for what it truly is. Knowing that each and every human on this planet is different from the other. We are all wired differently. No matter how many boxes, or categories, or church groups, or countries we create, nobody, not even ourselves, will ever be able to honestly subscribe to the rules and ideas laid out by that singular group thought. 

Though the tribe mindset helped humans through evolution, it is time to throw it aside. Individuals, though like-minded, need to begin to accept individuality over belonging. The need to survive in numbers has long passed. The time for killing enemies is over. We have been gifted with incredible minds and need to take them out of the sand, open our eyes, and accept the differences in every human being as strengths. Strengths that can benefit us all as a whole, not as a tribe that needs to exist in numbers, but a collective of individuals with individual strengths. Where every soul has something profound to contribute that is unique and beautiful.