All this anti-immigration rhetoric makes me laugh. Not a deep, hearty laugh but more of a chuckle reserved for someone who knows something that someone else doesn’t. The irony of a nation built on immigration finally getting enough and putting their foot down to say, “No more!”
Look, I get it. It has to stop somewhere. I also understand that it does in fact take away from those who follow the laws and procedures we have in place to become a citizen. I understand that in the interest of national security it would seem sensible to limit the flood across our borders. I don’t necessarily disagree with any of that. It makes sense, even when the logic and voice used to push that agenda doesn’t.
I think what humors me the most are those people who think the government can just pass new or enforce existing law and just stop illegal immigration. Do they not understand the law of supply and demand? These people wouldn’t come here in droves if they weren’t able to find jobs and opportunity to thrive. Basically, if they really weren’t wanted or didn’t fill some need, many of them would never come.
Have you ever traveled to border towns in Texas? New Mexico? Arizona? California? I’ve seen the mighty Rio Grande in El Paso. I couldn’t help but notice that El Paso and Juarez aren’t in fact two separate cities. They’re actually one big city in two different countries. Just observing the border with Mexico and the U.S. in El Paso alone paints the picture of how hopeless this crusade is if you think the solution is some sort of wall or fence. The only way immigration will truly be curbed is by going after the people who employ them. Again, I’d offer that if American citizens were as eager to work and worked as hard as the average immigrant then this probably wouldn’t be much of an issue.
With that stated, consider this: Who are the hardest working people you can think of? Mexicans? Chinese? Some other nationality? Yeah, I thought so. Americans have become lazy. We live in the land of opportunity yet we complacently watch it pass by. Then we cry foul and grab our torches and pitchforks when others rush in to fill the gap we left because we were too busy waiting on a handout or fostering a sense of entitlement.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve met immigrants in this country who have achieved high levels of success and are far more understanding and appreciative of the opportunities afforded in this country than we are. These people come here by whatever means possible and are fully prepared to do whatever it takes to make it. Two, three, maybe even four jobs if that’s what it takes. They work hard and smart to achieve their goals and look around dumbfounded at Americans who spend their time complaining about lack of opportunity.
I’m not saying open the floodgates and let everyone in. I’m not saying we shouldn’t encourage a path to legal citizenship. I’m simply observing things I know to be true.
The following won’t be popular with many people and I hope I can state this as inoffensively as possible, but when I see Mexicans, Asians or other nationalities in this country who are “lazy” or problematic (see gangs in California, etc.) it tends to happen with the second or third generations. Obviously, there are exceptions but overall, even in speaking with Mexican immigrants I’ve been fortunate to meet and work with, they also point this out. The problems are when their children become “Americanized” and not the good Americanized. The entitlement kind where they learn to depend on the handouts and foster the bad attitudes held by those who are in poverty in this country.
I know the following: If I were in a hopeless situation in another country and I had the opportunity to come to the United States where I can seek gainful employment and opportunity in order to provide for and better myself and my family, sign me up. Don’t hate me for it, you’d do it too. In addition, if this were the case I’d say don’t complain about me taking your job, outwork and outthink me. You have every opportunity right here at your fingertips.
It always strikes me as odd that those in poverty will clamor all over themselves to pull the handle of a slot machine or buy a lottery ticket, yet when it comes to believing in the odds of hard work paying off they’ve lost hope. I assure you that the odds of working hard to advance and EARN wealth are much, much greater than the odds of winning it.
Why can’t the solution be to offer a better and more encouraging path to those who are here to work hard and contribute to society? Why can’t we avoid making this issue about all illegal-aliens and work on a system that weeds out the contributors from the menaces? This path will be no more difficult than the system (not even being enforced) that we have in place now.
I’ll close by asking you to do a few things. One, ask the owner of a construction company, farm or any other manual labor intensive industry who the hardest workers are on average in this country. Second, ask an immigrant why they’re here and what they came from. Lastly, when you have those two answers, stop blaming the immigrants and start blaming us. We’re lazy and entitled.
This country was founded on those with courage, work ethic and at least collectively, a strong moral compass. It’s no one’s fault but ours that we’ve let these values erode to the point of near extinction. When a country ceases to value hard work, smart work and ingenuity, then the system built by those values will continue to attract those who possess it.
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