I tried really hard. With all the other stuff going on I didn’t want to throw my two cents into the ring about it. There are so many other things to talk about. Bush screwing up again, Gas prices, Iran, the elections, the list goes on and on. The news seems to be flooded with stories about it and I didn’t want to fall prey to the easy target and spend time writing about something that everyone else was writing about. However, Monday was the last straw. The lid blew and this little rant started brewing then. It’s had a few days to percolate so let’s see what spills over.

In case it wasn’t obvious this week’s rant is going to be about Illegal Immigrants and all the hubbub that seems to be brewing about them. The thing that totally amazes me though is that everyone seems to be overlooking one glairing indication why this should not be an issue to begin with. Amazingly enough, it’s right in the words. Were you able to catch it? I knew ya could.

Illegal is the key word in this. These people are not in the country legally. Sure they are coming here for jobs. Sure they are coming here to make money. I have no problem with that. I don’t buy the “stealing the jobs” bit that some people are trying to feed us. They are filling a need. However, they aren’t doing it properly and in turn are damaging the legitimate citizens of this country.

Speaking of the legitimate citizens, can someone tell me why legal Mexican immigrants are buying into this racist propaganda? Do these people not understand that weather the people are coming from Mexico or Canada doesn’t matter? It’s not the fact that they are Mexican that’s the problem, it’s the fact that they are sneaking in illegally, using public services they aren’t paying for and not giving back to the system that is making their employment possible. Not to mention, if you are a legal immigrant, wouldn’t you be pissed off at people who are circumventing the system that you went through to become a legitimate citizen? Shouldn’t the legal immigrants be even angrier at the illegals for cheating a system that they have bought into and become a part of?

I keep hearing about this attitude that people have against immigrants, I guess nobody ever took the time to pay attention in history to see that people have always had an attitude against immigrants. Hell, back in the early 1900’s even the immigrants hated each other. My great grand parents got on a boat and came over from Eastern Europe. They settled, had a family, learned the language, got jobs, paid taxes and died as Americans. Their children were accepted as Americans even while when they first came here they were not. That’s the way it goes folks. It’s not nice, it’s probably not right, but that’s the way it is. If they were able to do it one hundred years ago, I don’t need you flooding the streets to throw it in my face that you are here. Come to think of it, I don’t recall my great grandparents demanding that people learn Polish. I don’t remember them demanding that the schools in the community teach in polish, I don’t think I’ve heard anything about them wanting street signs in polish, as a matter of fact, I’m pretty certain that they were able to teach themselves English without the help of a social worker. If they were able to do it a hundred years ago why should it be any different now?

Regardless of the trials and tribulations of the immigrant in American society, which I could go on about forever, my article seems to be taking the same tangent that everyone else gets on by not discussing the real issue. That nasty Illegal word again. As nasty as it is it paints a very bold truth. These people do not belong here. The reasons that they are here are many, but it’s time to address the problem instead of talking about it. As much as I’d like the solution to be rounding them all up in busses and making them enter the country legally that’s not going to happen. Let’s face it, the political parties are going to discuss this forever simply because both of the major political parties see value in these people being in the country. The Republicans love having a cheap and exploitable workforce. As much as they love to preach free market they truly don’t want the free market to work. In a free market the cost of undesirable labor is driven higher because you need to pay people to do jobs that they don’t want to do. With illegals crossing the boarder they have a ready made work force that will work cheaply and outside the established labor laws. The best part is these exploited workers don’t have any legal recourse to strike back at their employers. On the other side the Democrats have a ready made batch of victims that they can offer to help. They love having victims to assure things will be better if only the loving, caring Democrats can get into office. Then, once they are in office, spending is cut because of the brown spotted nuthatch needs saved and these people are left to the wolves.

It’s a crappy situation all around, and I do feel for these people to some extent, but they are criminals and should be treated as such. This isn’t about racism. This isn’t about immigrant prejudice. It’s about the fact that people are sneaking across the boarder and invading a sovereign country that is not their own. There are legal ways to be come a citizen. If the work forces of Arizona, Texas and other states really need these people, then let them petition the INS to have special quotas put in for these people. Sneaking into the country however is not and should not be an option. The people that are doing it should be punished and while we’re loading people onto busses and sending them back to Mexico, let’s toss some of these dickhead businesses owners across the boarder as well. If we are going to be fair, let’s punish all who are involved.

Last 5 posts by Jeff Hopkins

• The Yeti Rants: The Change has Come to Town! - November 26th, 2008
• The Yeti Rants: Wall Street, Congress and Bailouts.. OH MY - October 8th, 2008
• The Yeti Rants: Obama vs. McCain... what's the difference? - June 23rd, 2008
• The Yeti Rants: A Democrat form of Government... - February 29th, 2008
• The Yeti Rants: It's Good to be Back! - January 30th, 2008