House set to pass bill which makes aid illegal

[muscadine]

joxn has it exactly right about this bill.

Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

You don't have to take that literally to see that making basic aid for anyone illegal is an unthinkable thing to do. Yet, as a country, we're not that far from it. God save us.

EDIT: Well, at least they saved Christmas. :P

EDIT2: Find out how your Representative voted. Let them know how you feel.

Comments

[legolastn.livejournal.com]

I'm basically neutral on the issue. More accurately, perhaps, would be to say I'm not sure what would be the best way to go on the issue. Illegal immigration is problematic for a number of reasons: it tends to stretch support institutions' resources, it deflates American wages (especially for the working class), it encourages an underground industry of human trafficing/slavery (which in turn connects to the drug trade), and among other security-related issues it may be putting us at risk in allowing would-be terrorists to filter into the country. And I don't really buy arguments that immigrants are needed to do jobs "nobody else wants." Pay them a competitive wage, and Americans would want to do the work. It's simple supply and demand. The trick is people want stuff for cheap, and illegal immigrants make a great source of cheap labor and thus allow for cheaper products. Public figures need to be honest on this count.

I do have to say that slogans like "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us" really resonate with me on an emotional level. Hispanics and the native peoples were part of the cultural face of the southwest long before an artifical barrier was placed in the form of a national border. On a more rational level, I'm not convinced the current direction on immigration policy is the best use of time and money. Spending millions patrolling the borders and putting up fences hasn't done squat to stem the tide. Pouring more money into such measures may not be the best strategy. I'm also not convinced harsh measures towards illegals (such as making them felons) will do anything except make Americans look heartless. It seems to me a more promising direction might include instituting fair trade (rather than free trade) practices which encourage rural Mexican to remain on their land and make a living, and do something to improve the working conditions in the maquiladora slums sitting right across our borders. Working on other cooperative measures with the Mexican government might also be fruitful. Currently they have no reason to get on board. A guest worker program might be the trick, but probably depends on the specifics. It's a tough issue.

[lady-elsinore.livejournal.com]

I agree 100% with your first paragraph, and I wholeheartedly agree that the revision of the border location complicates the whole issue. Of course, Europeans were invaders when they landed on Plymouth Rock, and I recognize this, though ultimately, times have changed and the borders and laws are what they are in the here and now.

I don't know what the answer is, but I know what we're doing currently isn't working, and isn't one definition of insanity "continuing to do something that isn't working"? Dovetailing on your point about the conditions in Mexico, I don't think any meaningful change will be possible so long as living conditions, wages, and corruption in Mexico are so atrocious. Faced with a choice of stark poverty in Mexico or "getting by" in the US and still able to send money home to family, who wouldn't consider crossing the border? And INS doesn't have the resources to deport even a fraction of the illegal immigrants currently here, so it's a decent bet that once someone gets across they'll be able to stay if they keep a low profile.

I think what you're getting at is that one single policy or law won't ever be able to address such a huge problem; the answer (whatever it is) has to include a multifaceted approach. Our government (as usual) is going about this with blinders on, and I'm not hopeful that's going to change any time soon...