Llotnarf [bun-length]Mar 28, 2006 5:39:36 pm
i'll admit that this is just my observations, and this is somewhat unprecedented, so your guess is as good as mine.
but the basis of my belief is that there are so many people that fall in this category or at least support this demographic. Half a million in just downtown LA? Hell, with the anti-war demonstrations, there is a lot of advanced notice and yet they never pan out to as big or unified as they should be. but this demonstration last week wasnt even on my radar, so it was pretty surprising. (of course, i'm not hispanic, so maybe i'm not in the grapevine for these things).
half a million people marching and doing so peacefully is nothing to scoff at. that is political will.
and illegal immigrants are highly MOTIVATED. the only thing that has saved us from them as a group was their failure (up until now) to organize recently. now that there is movement afoot, that may change.
The Hispanic population in this country is increasing at a great rate. As a group, they largely tend to support rights for immigrant workers, legal or otherwise (of course there are exceptions).
My opinion is that we cannot ignore this group and their demands any longer. If it was so easy, then why haven't the republicans been able to tighten up the border and crack down on illegals with the overwhelming and persistent demands of their base? it's because industry fears the economic and political consequences.
Yes, it's a fucked-up situation overall. And laws are being broken so much that they have ceased to have any meaning for many people. This is not unprecedented, though--people were breaking sodomy laws for decades before they were taken off the books as no longer relevant. People speed in their cars every day. It's the status quo--we know only that we need to do it "safely" and to watch out for the coppers. The majority of people driving on teh freeway are speeding (in los angeles, anyway), and there is no serious attempt to pull each and every person over. Instead, this trampled-upon law has become a technical precedent to pull people over for other reasons (or for recklessness if they are endangering others). People have copied vhs tapes for decades and yet the FBI only goes after people who try to sell them or profit from them. There are plenty of laws that the average US citizen breaks without thinking each and every day. The laws still exist merely as a technical tool to give law enforcement an excuse to move in if they want to. We are all law-breakers. And, yes, so are the "illegals" (those who are more "illegal" than we are).
Does this undocumented, illegal workforce pose social problems? Damn right it does. But there are also mitigating circumstances--at least out here, they are the people doing thankless jobs at sub-standard wages. We don't like them standing on our street corners trying to flag down cars to do work, but we rarely complain when the landlord hires them to rake the leaves and mow the lawns (except when they use teh leaf blowers anyway).
We are a two-faced culture when it comes to the economic classes in this country. Some societies can exist that way for a long time, and so we have. But such a situation is untenable in the long-run. Something must be done. We hvae three basic paths:
1) To legalize this activity, bearing the consequences of this action.
2) To maintain the status quo, bearing the consequences of, essentially, doing nothing
3) To take a hard line and deport them, and bear the consequences of this action.
I believe there are negative consequences to all three of these options, and option 2 is only temporary if we can even choose it anymore. It is my personal belief that both options 1 and 3 will have negative economic impacts and social consequences. Yet we are forced to make a choice, and I believe that option 3 will have more dire consequences than option 1.
but the basis of my belief is that there are so many people that fall in this category or at least support this demographic. Half a million in just downtown LA? Hell, with the anti-war demonstrations, there is a lot of advanced notice and yet they never pan out to as big or unified as they should be. but this demonstration last week wasnt even on my radar, so it was pretty surprising. (of course, i'm not hispanic, so maybe i'm not in the grapevine for these things).
half a million people marching and doing so peacefully is nothing to scoff at. that is political will.
and illegal immigrants are highly MOTIVATED. the only thing that has saved us from them as a group was their failure (up until now) to organize recently. now that there is movement afoot, that may change.
The Hispanic population in this country is increasing at a great rate. As a group, they largely tend to support rights for immigrant workers, legal or otherwise (of course there are exceptions).
My opinion is that we cannot ignore this group and their demands any longer. If it was so easy, then why haven't the republicans been able to tighten up the border and crack down on illegals with the overwhelming and persistent demands of their base? it's because industry fears the economic and political consequences.
Yes, it's a fucked-up situation overall. And laws are being broken so much that they have ceased to have any meaning for many people. This is not unprecedented, though--people were breaking sodomy laws for decades before they were taken off the books as no longer relevant. People speed in their cars every day. It's the status quo--we know only that we need to do it "safely" and to watch out for the coppers. The majority of people driving on teh freeway are speeding (in los angeles, anyway), and there is no serious attempt to pull each and every person over. Instead, this trampled-upon law has become a technical precedent to pull people over for other reasons (or for recklessness if they are endangering others). People have copied vhs tapes for decades and yet the FBI only goes after people who try to sell them or profit from them. There are plenty of laws that the average US citizen breaks without thinking each and every day. The laws still exist merely as a technical tool to give law enforcement an excuse to move in if they want to. We are all law-breakers. And, yes, so are the "illegals" (those who are more "illegal" than we are).
Does this undocumented, illegal workforce pose social problems? Damn right it does. But there are also mitigating circumstances--at least out here, they are the people doing thankless jobs at sub-standard wages. We don't like them standing on our street corners trying to flag down cars to do work, but we rarely complain when the landlord hires them to rake the leaves and mow the lawns (except when they use teh leaf blowers anyway).
We are a two-faced culture when it comes to the economic classes in this country. Some societies can exist that way for a long time, and so we have. But such a situation is untenable in the long-run. Something must be done. We hvae three basic paths:
1) To legalize this activity, bearing the consequences of this action.
2) To maintain the status quo, bearing the consequences of, essentially, doing nothing
3) To take a hard line and deport them, and bear the consequences of this action.
I believe there are negative consequences to all three of these options, and option 2 is only temporary if we can even choose it anymore. It is my personal belief that both options 1 and 3 will have negative economic impacts and social consequences. Yet we are forced to make a choice, and I believe that option 3 will have more dire consequences than option 1.