Monday, May 01, 2006

Pay up, or get out!

OK, so I'm not used to doing three posts in a day, but really, this will be the last one.

So apparently most of the warehouse workers for my company ditched work for the immigrant protests today - which basically consists of immigrants not going to work or shopping to try to show the U.S. how much a part of our economy they are.

Excuse me, illegal immigrants in the U.S. - did I hear you correctly?

We are constantly deporting you back south of the border - yet now you're trying to show us how badly we need you? Really? Do we?

I'm a legal citizen of this country. If I suddenly decided to stop paying taxes, or to drive without a license, or anything like that, I would be thrown into jail. Yet, you want all the benefits of living in the United States without paying into the system that creates the benefits that you are taking advantage of.

I keep hearing that immigrants love America and all that, but if they love it so much, why don't they start paying taxes? Or get driver's licenses so they don't end up in traffic court in droves?

The ironic thing is, if they'd bothered to become legal in the first place, they might have had some voting power to shoot down this criminalization bill. However, it's clear from the immigrants' protest that their point isn't that they deserve amnesty in the U.S. based on their individual legal merit, but they should be legalized because there are a lot of them, and we might as well just let them in.

From CNN: "We understand the importance, contribution immigrants have made to the economy and the industry of this great nation," said retired Col. Albert F. Rodriguez, a veteran of World War II and the Vietnam War. "But the difference is that we and millions of others like us did it legally. We're all here today to tell all those illegal protesters, 'You do not speak for me.'"

5 comments:

Julie said...

Val, I thought you'd enjoy this....


Dear President Bush,

I'm about to plan a little trip with my family and extended
family, and I would like to ask you to assist me. I'm going to
walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and I need to
make a few arrangements. I know you can help with this.

I plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here.

So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Vicente Fox, that
I'm on my way over? Please let him know that I will be expecting
the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.

2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.

3. All government forms need to be printed in English.


4. I want my kids to be taught by English-speaking teachers.


5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history.


6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school with the Mexican flag flying lower
down.


7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and
lunch.

8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy
access to government services.

9. I do not plan to have any car insurance, and I won't make any
effort to learn local traffic laws.

10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the
memo from Pres. Fox to leave me alone, please be sure that all
police officers speak English.

11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put flag decals
on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.


12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes,
and don't enforce any labor laws or tax laws.


13. Please tell all the people in the country to be extremely nice
and never say a critical word about me, or about the strain I
might place on the economy.


I know this is an easy request because you already do all these
things for all the people who come to the U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that Pres. Fox won't mind returning the favor if you ask him
nicely.

However, if he gives you any trouble, just invite him to go quail hunting with your V.P.

Thank you so much for your kind help.

Valerie said...

Yeah but the problem with that is, who wants to go live in Mexico? ;)

Anonymous said...

while it also pisses me off that a shitload of people are skirting the system, becoming a U.S. citizen is much harder than you would think.

Julie said...

Oh, I completely agree, anonymous person. I would definitely like to see the laws changed so that it's easier for immigrants to come here legally, or at the very least, impose stricter fines on the corporations profiting off of their illegal labor. Until on of the two happens though, we shouldn't expect the government to just close their eyes and pretend the illegals aren't here.

Valerie said...

It's also difficult to become a European citizen, but just because I can't become one doesn't mean I should go live in Europe illegally.

And even if I tried, Interpol would (rightly) blast me back Stateside quicker than you can say "lederhosen."