posted on Dec, 15 2006 @ 02:20 AM
to add to the discussion, i live near greeley and this has been a hot topic for the past 2 days here.
i adhere to the too little too late school of thought on this subject. this is an epidemic that has been apparent since the early 80's, especially
in the western states including the one in which i live. i believe that the corporations involved should indeed take most of the blow, for it was
their actions which enticed and perpetuated the situation, wooing mexican nationals through word of mouth and lax hiring policies.
thousands of families are now damaged due to the negligence of corporate america and the delayed zealousness of our government to suddenly make a
stand 20 years too late.
there was a competitive excercise in elementary schools when i was young called 'future problem solving' where students would group together and
brainstorm ideas on prominent and potential global issues ranging from the elderly in the workforce to ecological collapse. it was at the same time
an effort to instill a sense of importance in children in regards to current events and also to better understand what their actions might evolve into
over the coming years. one of the problems we were given was immigration in a generalist sense, legal and illegal, and the potential problems that
could arise in the near future. one of the main issues that my group focused on was the lack of current prosecution of illegal immigrants (this is in
1987 and i was about 10). our 'soloution' was to make liable those that had facilitated the immigration problem, from loopholes in government
regulations to the shady sides of the corporate giants. if it wasn't so easy for them to hire illegals, then they wouldn't do it, but they do, so
harsh penalties must be enforced. by concluding that the actions of these companies ruins not only the national economy but the personal integrity
and well being of those used in the name of discount labor, we decided that the only way to criminalize it was to make the offense something
equivalent to rape or murder, and those charges to be pressed upon the policy makers, not the uneducated throngs that cross our borders daily. our
group ranked somewhere in the teens out of hundreds of entries.
i still hold those same thoughts, and in today's post 9-11 world to me the knowing practice of hiring illegals is the same as treason or terrorism,
which to me is the act of knowingly and willfully doing something destructive to the social, economic and political community of a nation generating
widespread chaos and fear.
(got a phone call and lost my train of thought, if there really ever was one:roll
that's my thoughts for now..