TBT: Immigration

So the President (capital Pee) is going to announce an executive order this evening in regards to updating our immigration laws.

Honestly, I'm sure you're not a big fan of his work.

You either think he was too liberal or not liberal enough.

There are good and terrible arguments on both sides.

Whatever . . .

In thinking about immigration I started to roll around in my head all the stuff, for and against, and I started to get really antsy, cause if there is one thing I can't wrap my head around is why there is any type of opposition to immigration reform at all.

Aside from the xenophobes (of which there is no logical debate anyway) isn't it pretty much safe to say that The United States of America . . . is immigration.

It's our DNA.

Not just 'IN' our DNA.

But the whole shebang.

Point to any world statistic and the USA isn't in the top ten anywhere ('cept military spending and incarceration) but it is the only country in the world where you can become a naturalized citizen after passing a civics test.

No other place does that.

Okay, so maybe you wanna protect our borders.

But from what invasion?

There is more military might in Texas than in any other country in the Western Hemisphere.

Protect our jobs?

Go ahead and have a gander at this report on the economic impact of immigration:

http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/cea/cea_immigration_062007.html

Why . . . yes . . . that was directly from the George W. Bush White House.

And yes . . . it did say that immigration has a positive effect on the economy, on job creation, and higher wages for everyone.

The really astounding part to me is that immigrants overwhelming lean to the conservative side of social politics.

In short . . . They're Republicans.

Don't you think there is a reason why President Obama has the highest deportation rate of any sitting president?

He's been literally deporting hundreds of thousands of potential Republicans out of the country.

Smart dude that one.

And lastly . . . be honest . . . when was the last time you met an immigrant that wasn't a hardworking perfect embodiment of the American Dream?

Think about it.

I've got time.

Nope, the only reason, the only real reason a person is against immigration, is because they've forgotten who they are.

You, yes you, are the child, grandchild, or great grand child of an immigrant.

You are less than four genealogical steps from the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to be free.

For today's Throw Back Thursday I thought it might be fun to do a little remembering myself:

In this picture, the two youngish looking people are William and his sister Francis.

Behind them, George and Matilda Macrae.

George and Matilda were Scottish born, and worked together as servants in London in the 1880s and 90's (Think Downton Abbey) before immigrating to upstate New York at the turn of the century. That was a time with a far greater influx of immigrants than we have now, with the backlash being far more violent and the living conditions far more desperate.

If they had any advantage over our current group of immigrants, it's that their English was probably impeccable.

Not so much can be said of the Germans, Italians, Swedish, Norwegian, Austrians and Portuguese, but everyone has their own cross to bear.

William fought in World War One (purple heart and everything) and went on to become a successful business man. Francis married a man from Cuba but was ousted during the Castro revolution and lived out the rest of her life hopping between Florida and California.

No matter how much red, white, and blue you bleed, this is the story of your family too.


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