“Immigration--It's a Complicated Subject...”
At least, that's how one Hispanic co-worker put it.
And I must admit that I agree.
After all, I actually met a former illegal alien once. And I also met a Hispanic veteran of the US Army. Interesting enough, they were one and the same person. And somehow I doubt that was a rare example.
Of course, I can't help but wonder how many illegal aliens I know that I don't really know to be illegal aliens. After all, my late paternal grandfather was a migrant worker. My late father was a naturalized citizen whose first job involved helping his father pick cherries in northern Michigan. I'd like to believe that both he and my grandfather came over legally -- after all, my grandfather was supposedly involved with the bracero program -- but sometimes I wonder...
And that's one problem with the illegal alien debate. It's easy enough to go on about the faults and vices of “those” illegal aliens; after all, most of them aren't saints. But once you start dealing with them on an individual basis, the whole question of who or who isn't an illegal alien becomes more problematic.
And yet just sticking with the status quo doesn't seem like an adequate solution either. Every time I hear the same old cliché about illegal aliens only taking jobs that Americans don't want to do, I can't help but think about the black-owned janitorial service that gave me my first job back in the 1980s -- and what the people who own that service must think about the Walmart janitorial scandal a few years back. After all, janitorial work wasn't considered a “job Americans don't want to do” back in the 1980s. Why is it considered that way now? What happens to the Americans who used to do it? And how many Americans have quit doing it because they couldn't afford to compete with firms that employed illegal aliens?
And why don't those Hispanics who defend illegal aliens ever seem to consider the questions I just asked? Would we be as quick to defend illegal aliens if they were, say, Irish? Or Nigerian? And if not, why not?
At least, that's how one Hispanic co-worker put it.
And I must admit that I agree.
After all, I actually met a former illegal alien once. And I also met a Hispanic veteran of the US Army. Interesting enough, they were one and the same person. And somehow I doubt that was a rare example.
Of course, I can't help but wonder how many illegal aliens I know that I don't really know to be illegal aliens. After all, my late paternal grandfather was a migrant worker. My late father was a naturalized citizen whose first job involved helping his father pick cherries in northern Michigan. I'd like to believe that both he and my grandfather came over legally -- after all, my grandfather was supposedly involved with the bracero program -- but sometimes I wonder...
And that's one problem with the illegal alien debate. It's easy enough to go on about the faults and vices of “those” illegal aliens; after all, most of them aren't saints. But once you start dealing with them on an individual basis, the whole question of who or who isn't an illegal alien becomes more problematic.
And yet just sticking with the status quo doesn't seem like an adequate solution either. Every time I hear the same old cliché about illegal aliens only taking jobs that Americans don't want to do, I can't help but think about the black-owned janitorial service that gave me my first job back in the 1980s -- and what the people who own that service must think about the Walmart janitorial scandal a few years back. After all, janitorial work wasn't considered a “job Americans don't want to do” back in the 1980s. Why is it considered that way now? What happens to the Americans who used to do it? And how many Americans have quit doing it because they couldn't afford to compete with firms that employed illegal aliens?
And why don't those Hispanics who defend illegal aliens ever seem to consider the questions I just asked? Would we be as quick to defend illegal aliens if they were, say, Irish? Or Nigerian? And if not, why not?
Labels: Inmigración Ilegal, Pensamientos Acerca de Política I
posted by Tonio Kruger at 5:53 PM
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