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Border fence is not a good answer
to immigration problems
By Greg
Boyles
October 6, 2008 | So far neither presidential hopeful
nor current government leader has inspired us on the
topic of immigration reform.
Currently our policy is to track them down ("them"
of course being Mexicans who are here illegally), round
them up, and kick them out. And while this theory may
hold moral status in regards to gang bangers and drug
dealers, it's a different story for the hard working
meat plant employees 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 boarder between the U.S. and Mexico. The loophole,
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 border 15 feet; sadly
it also places an unfair stigma on Mexicans who have
been deemed public enemy No. 1 by both the government
and the media.
When the words "illegal immigrant" are heard, the
mind naturally wanders to the image of throngs of people
wading across rivers slipping through holes in a raggedy
fence. 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."
But 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 Mexican neighbors. No longer
is a man working in a field under the blazing sun for
little pay a hard worker, but now he's a thief; a man
taking the bread right out of our mouths?
But what bread? Who's begging to work for $2 an hour
in horrible conditions?
And while we all sit back and blame the Mexican population
for freeloading on health care and American jobs, no
one has truly gone after the true culprits who promote
the behavior by hiring illegal immigrants.
Americans have been screaming "Track them down and
kick them out," but why must it be that way?
An option that has been mentioned but not thoroughly
explored is the possibility that requirements to become
a citizen are too harsh and need reform. Should people
who live in another country be turned away because they
did not have the resources to learn who our 22nd president
was? 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.
NW
MS |
