The Down Home Immigration Battle

I was born and raised here in the plains of Texas, where my ancestors are all buried now. They came from Wales and Scotland, and drove covered wagons across the prairie, and made their homes in what we know as half-dugouts-basically holes in the ground. I have a family cemetary in Vinson, Ok, just a couple hours from Amarillo where I was born, where my great-great-great-great grandparents there, along with other relatives that died in childbirth, or during the Dustbowl. The largest concentration of my family lived where the Grapes of Wrath was based. I know a little something about pride in immigrant relatives.

However, here in Texas now, we have the 2nd largest concentration of illegal immigrants,(specifically mexican) in the country, second only to California-over 2 million.

My personal experiences with these mostly Mexican immigrants, (and I have had many), have been mostly negative in the last decade. These immigrants I am seeing now, are not the same immigrants that our country was founded on the backs of ,so many years ago. These are not the same people. Simple as that. The reason Texas, New Mexico, and California are pushing for immigration reform, the REAL reason, is because we’re flat broke now. Because we have millions of Mexican immigrants coming across the borders, refusing to work, refusing to learn the language, and committing welfare fraud.

I have a first cousin who married a Mexican man, who came in illegally when he was five years old, and worked his whole life here. He became a citizen, went to law school, and is today a state judge in Austin. He is ashamed of what his people are doing. They are not coming here because they love America and want to be a part of it. They’re coming here because we’re giving them free everything, and they’re bankrupting us all; Disgracing everything the word immigrant stands for in the American vocabulary.

Even as a long time civil rights activist, I am embarrassed to go into establishments and witness the reverse racism that goes on. My daughter’s education suffers because she goes into school and has to be taught a slower curriculum because of the children in class whose parents vehemently and hostilely refuse to allow their children to learn english.

My question is, if you want this to be more like Mexico, why did you leave in the first place? Because we give you free services for nothing. What is going on right now is token change. Because the rich will continue to hire illegals for cheap labor, exploiting them while they exploit us. I know full well the difference between a deadbeat and someone trying to earn a good life. But deadbeats right now, and for a long while, have been allowed to take the plenty we’ll give them, and not contribute anything back.

This issue depresses the hell out of me, because it isn’t going to change. And the reason noone stands up and says what I’ve just said, is because people are far too quick to use racism as a tool. That is a far uglier and different thing than cultural pride, and responsibility. Two terms given to our consciousness by real, beautiful, diverse people.

Maybe all this is only fair, at least in Texas. It’s just a crying shame to me. Personal responsibility is dying out. Holding your hand out is so much easier than earning your way to anything. The reason this bothers me so much is because I have worked 2 and 3 jobs to get where I am. I was loathe to take any help from welfare or medicaid. And because of that I’m stronger and better. I’m not ashamed, and I expect everyone else to suck it up and deal. Life is hard, work your ass off, do what you have to do. God knows I do every day to feed my daughter. And then, at the end of an 18 hour day, I go to the grocery store and there are Mexican illegals using 400 dollars worth of food stamps to buy filet mignon while their 8 kids have no shoes on or clean diapers.

There is something wrong with that picture. Yes, there will always be lazy people of every race and creed. This is my personal and admittedly controversial opinion, on what I see as a tear in our fabric-a tear that is widening as we speak.