Angry with these protests

[terri o'neale 0]

Today has been really hard. It has been almost two months since I last saw Paul. And every single day for that time, I am faced with probably close to a million illegals here in Los Angeles demanding 'their' rights. What about my rights? I'm doing things the right way...and it is costing me not only money but precious time away from my husband and him time away from his only child. It is so damned frustrating. And if I say anything that makes me racist. Despite having two children of Mexican-American descent and one of African. There is a legal way of doing things...and all of us that are following it are being penalized for doing so it seems. I'm tired of being the bad guy...and having to bite my tongue. It ain't right. I can't even get a job in my field at the local hospital cause I don't speak their language in MY country. ARGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! Sorry I just needed to blow off some steam before I explode with the frustration of doing the right thing while seeing all these illegals getting away with it.

Terri O'Neale

[Married_my_love 0]

I support your post 100%. I too live in california and I just get outraged watching the news and listening to the radio. Tomorrow is "walk out day". Yeah.

I think a lot of the country doesn't realize what we're hearing and seeing in Calif. Maybe tomorrow they'll understand. I feel exactly how you feel, I am a newlywed (today is my 4 month anniversary of the day I married the love of my life) and I have been in his arms a total of 13 days since we got married. It angers me in the same way. Just wanted you to know.

Edited April 30, 2006 by Married_my_love

[Jersey Girl 2]

Relax, terri, you're doing things the right way and your story will have a happy ending. No sense comparing yourself to illegals who demand rights. The backdrop is that it's an election year and every leftwing group will be on the bandwagon tomorrow. But the more people who turn out, the more they'll underline the fact that the number of illegals has gotten out of hand, and that serious change is needed. In effect, their protest backfires. (Similar to those who want the government to send troops to Dafur while at the same time, demanding that they're withdrawn from Iraq.)

The current Congress can't agree on an immigration reform bill. But things could take a different turn. Suppose the IRS amended the tax return and started asking about status? Or if they starting checking to see if social security numbers were valid? Immigration reform could come swiftly, quietly, and decisively. Meanwhile, open something fizzy, pour it into some stemware, and congratulate yourself on loving this country enough to play by its rules.

[sannie 0]

I support your post 100%. I too live in california and I just get outraged watching the news and listening to the radio. Tomorrow is "walk out day". Yeah.

I think a lot of the country doesn't realize what we're hearing and seeing in Calif. Maybe tomorrow they'll understand. I feel exactly how you feel, I am a newlywed (today is my 4 month anniversary of the day I married the love of my life) and I have been in his arms a total of 13 days since we got married. It angers me in the same way. Just wanted you to know.

well said

[wmhurd 0]

Today has been really hard. It has been almost two months since I last saw Paul. And every single day for that time, I am faced with probably close to a million illegals here in Los Angeles demanding 'their' rights. What about my rights? I'm doing things the right way...and it is costing me not only money but precious time away from my husband and him time away from his only child. It is so damned frustrating. And if I say anything that makes me racist. Despite having two children of Mexican-American descent and one of African. There is a legal way of doing things...and all of us that are following it are being penalized for doing so it seems. I'm tired of being the bad guy...and having to bite my tongue. It ain't right. I can't even get a job in my field at the local hospital cause I don't speak their language in MY country. ARGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! Sorry I just needed to blow off some steam before I explode with the frustration of doing the right thing while seeing all these illegals getting away with it.

Terri O'Neale

Terri

You are not being a racist at all you are just "Telling It Real" like it susposed to be. My wife is also in the UK and keeping two households is a nightmare. And I agree with the fact that everyone has a right to work and live good but I believe even stronger that all these illegals should not be here. They should put every last one of them back across the border and let them go through this same legal INS process as we are doing. Now if someone want to look at me as racist I don't care for I too am just keeping it real

[Flames9_RN 358]

I have travelled alot through out the world in my Army, Navy, and Air Force days and have been to some very poor countries. And if I lived there, i would do anything in my power to get away and make a better life for myself. Maybe it isnt right that they are here, but I completly understand their situation.

[belize 0]

Might I remind you....that all of our spouses are IMMIGRANTS and that the only reason they have a chance at getting into this country is because they miraculously met American citizens and got MARRIED to us...not everyone has the the chance to just meet a US citizen! People are just struggling to get ahead in this world...when we stop thinking of borders, of US and THEM, of OUR rights versus THEIR rights, maybe we can get some damn peace in this world...

But let me also remind you, it behooves ALL OF US ON THIS SITE to fight for immigrant rights--because believe it or not, it would more likely speed up the process for us who are legally filing if visas and work permits work EASIER to obtain. And once our spouses are here, perhaps the employment world will be a bit less discriminating--this may not be easy for those to understand who are married to spouses from developed countries who speak fluent English, who have a high education, or who have no accent...it is different being married to someone from a developing country--trust me.

The latter post was rooted in ignorance, in my opinion...until I see a middle-class-white person get off their lazy bums and farm from sunrise to sunset, i will retain that immigrants are not a burdeon on society, rather, they are the foundation of what makes our exploitative society WORK--they fill in most of the jobs lazy Americans would never want to do, enabling the upper-class to CHOOSE to get their educations and high-paying jobs....about the farming, my husband and I are both organic farmers and we have farmed under the most strenuous conditions in the tropics--if you have never done back-breaking work, if you have never been a DAILY house-cleaner being exposed to harmful cleaning chemicals, or at the least taken the time to talk to an immigrant in the labor force, then you will not appreciate the immigrant work force and their struggles for basic human rights. I can't say it's racism, but I can say it's ignorance.

Today has been really hard. It has been almost two months since I last saw Paul. And every single day for that time, I am faced with probably close to a million illegals here in Los Angeles demanding 'their' rights. What about my rights? I'm doing things the right way...and it is costing me not only money but precious time away from my husband and him time away from his only child. It is so damned frustrating. And if I say anything that makes me racist. Despite having two children of Mexican-American descent and one of African. There is a legal way of doing things...and all of us that are following it are being penalized for doing so it seems. I'm tired of being the bad guy...and having to bite my tongue. It ain't right. I can't even get a job in my field at the local hospital cause I don't speak their language in MY country. ARGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! Sorry I just needed to blow off some steam before I explode with the frustration of doing the right thing while seeing all these illegals getting away with it.

Terri O'Neale

Terri

You are not being a racist at all you are just "Telling It Real" like it susposed to be. My wife is also in the UK and keeping two households is a nightmare. And I agree with the fact that everyone has a right to work and live good but I believe even stronger that all these illegals should not be here. They should put every last one of them back across the border and let them go through this same legal INS process as we are doing. Now if someone want to look at me as racist I don't care for I too am just keeping it real

[robin&catrinel 0]

I am as unthrilled as most about the developments going on in the US with these illegal immigrants. However, let us step back a moment and think of a few points.

Illegal immigrants are providing services that out of work Americans can perform, but how many would? I am sure they are also providing services that some people won't provide. I have cruised the rich neighborhoods of my state's capitol city. Doctors, layers, CEOs. There are Mexicans in trucks and vans all over the place, landscaping. They are probably asking for low wages to be competitive, and it works. The people who complain about immigration, and illegals, pay them and don't miss that saved $ that goes into the gas tank of their BMW.

And let's not forget about Wal-mart. Most people I do know in my family, and friends' families, shop there. They don't think twice about the fact that the low prices they pay might be due to the employment of illegal aliens for low wages.

How many of us consider that the quality of life Americans enjoy is bought on the backs of illegals, and cheap imports from countries with questionable human rights records or unsafe working conditions? How many complain about illegals when an illegal workforce provides lower costs of construction for their new homes?

For the record, I am for every single person here who plays by the rules and pushes through the process. And I, too, think that measures should be put in place to control and monitor their numbers. But let me suffix this with a simple fact: let's be sure we are ready for the consequences....

Terri

You are not being a racist at all you are just "Telling It Real" like it susposed to be. My wife is also in the UK and keeping two households is a nightmare. And I agree with the fact that everyone has a right to work and live good but I believe even stronger that all these illegals should not be here. They should put every last one of them back across the border and let them go through this same legal INS process as we are doing. Now if someone want to look at me as racist I don't care for I too am just keeping it real

[elizaxyz 0]

Excelleny post, belize. I can't get angry over 'illegals' protesting their situation. It's not that we're doing it 'the right way' and they're not-- the whole damn system is a mess, and splitting the immigrant community into groups of 'right' and wrong' doesn't help.

I've said from that start that because I'm a white professional marrying an English guy, I've had several advantages over many other applicants, and that just shouldn't be the case. And I sure as hell wouldn't argue that people being smuggled over the border under extremely dangerous situations and working jobs most citizens wouldn't take for terrible pay are doing things the 'easy' wasy.

[Jersey Girl 2]

Can anyone here propose a workable solution? Naturally, we all want an orderly, humane, and fair system for immigration. So where do we go from here? Grant total amnesty? Drop greencards out of helicopters? Or ask people to normalize their situation by making an application? Or would that be treading on their rights?

[gwenneh 7]

How about making it less than impossible to get a work visa, so that they can come legally and work?

[Jersey Girl 2]

How about making it less than impossible to get a work visa, so that they can come legally and work?

Yes, the government could make it easier to get a temporary visa. But most people, I suspect, are not interested in being here temporarily. They made the U.S. their home and intend to stay permanently. Even though they're economic refugees, and say they only want to work, they'd turn down a work visa because it's a temporary arrangement.

[elizaxyz 0]

How about making it less than impossible to get a work visa, so that they can come legally and work?

Yes, the government could make it easier to get a temporary visa. But most people, I suspect, are not interested in being here temporarily. They made the U.S. their home and intend to stay permanently. Even though they're economic refugees, and say they only want to work, they'd turn down a work visa because it's a temporary arrangement.

Actually, I've heard the complete opposite-- many who cross the Mexican border looking for work would happily go back to their families. All that tightening the borders has done is encouraged them to stay here permanently for fear of not being able to get back in. A guest worker program that allows people to cross and recross the border would be a start.

But that raises the question-- how tbest to get undocumented workers to apply for such a status, since fear of deportation is so ingrained.

[iceyspots 0]

No comments...

[Jersey Girl 2]

A guest worker program that allows people to cross and recross the border would be a start.

Although we've heard the term "guest worker," we haven't heard many details. If a person could make multiple trips to the U.S., without fear of deportation, it should be a solution. But I don't hear any immigrant groups jumping up and down asking for guest worker status.

There's an unspoken idea that immigrants should not have to sign up for anything. Maybe because they know they wouldn't pass many tests. Some may have criminal backgrounds or serious communicable diseases. For whatever reasons, they seem to be saying that it's an affront to their dignity to be asked to fill out forms. They've paid their dues, in their minds, and simply want to stay. Temporary guest worker is not an option.

Many of our ancestors may have simply arrived here without going through government channels, became hard-working citizens, et cetera. But they didn't arrive in such numbers that a single group changed the demographics drastically. That's an issue here in northern New Jersey, and one that's hard to broach without being accused of racism.

Edited April 30, 2006 by Jersey Girl