Thread: Why does abiding by the law seem so unimportant?

http://www.edmondsun.com

Why does abiding by the law seem so unimportant?
Dick Tunison
CNHI News Service

EDMOND— The young girl hung out of the school bus window holding a hand-drawn sign that read, “I am an immigrant, not a criminal.” She was one of the less boisterous teenagers who took part in demonstrations around the country this past week. While a few of the youngsters were interested in the political implications of the raging debates over the future of immigration in America, most of the others were more absorbed with skipping classes and getting away with it.

Wednesday evening I watched a TV report filmed along the Arizona-Mexican border. A Mexican boy and girl, who had been apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol, sat side-by-side on a log answering a reporter’s questions. “Where did you two come from?” the reported asked. “Ciudad Santa Ana,” the boy answered through an interpreter. “Do you know you’re breaking American law when you cross the border like this?” the reporter pressed. The boy just shrugged his shoulders and gave a knowing grin. “The Border Patrol will send you back home.” The boy nodded his understanding. “What will you do then?” the reporter asked. “I’ll cross over again as soon as I can,” came the unhesitating response.

There is an interesting dynamic in these two situations that seems to permeate a lot of the demonstrations going on in America these days. It’s the recognition that laws can be broken with impunity. Let’s start with the simple act of ditching school. When I was a child the principal would have had the truant officer out after the violator. I never saw a truant officer, but I certainly had him well pictured in my mind’s eye — fearsome! He was a big-time deterrent to cutting school as I was growing up. Perhaps truant officers have gone the way of all flesh, because we don’t hear about them anymore, but it’s obvious the urge to be truant is greater than ever.

It’s hard to justify cutting school these days as we see student performance levels sag below international norms. As taxpayers, we’re constantly being hit with demands for more money for schools, and as parents we feel the need to monitor our children’s performance like hawks. Under such circumstances, few of us would condone our children’s running through the streets carrying placards promoting or refuting any cause, rather than fulfilling their scholarly duties. Yet this is exactly what is happening in some of our neediest communities. And to top it off, many school administrators are facilitating this malevolence.

The border runners who know they are breaking American laws when they steal across our borders have a far different agenda, but they still take law violation far too lightly. Even though their objective may be to flow quietly into the land of milk and honey to find much needed employment and a better way of life, they have no compunction about thumbing their noses at the laws of the land they wish to call home. It seems to me that’s a poor way to start a new life in a new country.

It’s estimated there are about 11 million illegals in the United States right now. All of these people knew they would be violating the law even before they made the decision to come north. This knowledge made no difference as they made their choice between a legal and illegal entry process. Expediency was the overriding factor, even though there was a legal alternative available to them. Their eagerness was often heightened by the intolerable conditions in their home country they felt the need to leave behind.

To a large degree, this has been the motivation for countless immigrants who have chosen America as their home over the centuries. But as time went by, our people and our government have found it necessary to enact laws to control immigration at manageable levels. To be sure, some of the earlier restrictions had been racially motivated by the egregious attitudes of lawmakers and society in general, but most of the onerous laws have been corrected. Still, it takes time to immigrate legally, regardless of one’s country of origin. But the question remains, does all this justify lawlessness? I think we would agree the answer is an unequivocal, no.

Congress is struggling with a new formula designed to correct illegal entry problems. This past week the Senate agreed to a “step” program that would give incentives to illegal immigrants to conform to defined requirements in order to gain eventual citizenship. Of course this proposed legislation must pass muster with the House, which will likely add its own elements before passage can be achieved. Almost all members of Congress are opposed to anything that smells of amnesty, particularly as it may apply to blatant violators of the law.

So what should be done with the people who are repeat offenders of the law? They should be denied citizenship. We have far too many scofflaws among us already, right down to school children who think walking out of class to run through the streets is tantamount to exercising their civil rights. I’m not suggesting jail time for them, but a parental whupping might be worth trying.

It’s time to change attitudes about abiding by the law, and if we have common sense we’ll understand the change begins with each of us. That’s the type of example we need to set for all immigrants. America is certainly a land of opportunity, but it’s also a land where citizens recognize the importance of respecting the law.

not any more it seems

not if you are an illegal alien

Only if you are a hardworking downtrodden middle class victim.

the qn is how do we fix it?? suggestions?

Originally Posted by pixeldoctor

not any more it seems

not if you are an illegal alien

Only if you are a hardworking downtrodden middle class victim.

the qn is how do we fix it?? suggestions?

You are a smart person; you got it first time around. You follow the law your whole life, you work your butt off & what do you get? Mecha?

It's time to challenge the idea that they come here 'from a very poor country'. They don't. Realizing that 60% of the illegal arrivals here are Mexican they come for a country with the 6th largest GDP in the world. They usually leave jobs to come here. What they earn in that country will support them and their families according to the cost of living there.

What they come here for is to 'fill their sock'. They want to live here on as little of their 'new' income as possible...send some back home, of course. The cost to the economy of this nation just in dollars that are sent abroad and do not circulate in OUR economy is 80 BILLION dollars per year. Then they go back to Mexico...and either open a business there or build their dream home. And they are returning 'heros'....they managed to sidestep all of our laws to benefit themselves. Meantime they've used as much as is possible of all public assistance.

It's time to stop feeling sorry for these lawbreakers. They don't want to become citizens. They want to benefit themselves at the cost of our nation.

RR

I know I don't feel sorry. Like what was said earlier, they know they are breaking the law. And they make ALOT more money than just what ever they say they are getting from their menial job. If that were the case how could they afford those huge brand new pickups I saw them driving. And being a cashier at the time, I saw them pull out huge rolls of money and they weren't dollar bills. Nothing under a 100.00. But then I'd see the same ones using the food card at the grocery store. They had a mexican flea market on Saturdays and it was the same people running a stand, selling the goods they stole from my store the night before! Tags still on them. There is no respect for the law, period. Not to mention drugs and guns and whatever else. Now they're here illegally, they've abused the welfare system, forged documents, committed crimes and if that were you or me we'd be locked up for good! And a background check? What a joke. Which name you looking for? It's a joke to them. It would be a major undertaking to assimalate a group of people who embrace that sort of lifestyle.