Thread: Call to Compassion

www.washingtonpost.com

Call to Compassion

Saturday, November 12, 2005; Page A24

When I read about the Minutemen in Herndon and their efforts to discourage illegal immigration ["Day Laborers Being Photographed, Followed in Va.; Group Wants to Discourage Employers From Hiring Herndon Workers," Metro, Nov. 8], I wondered why we put so much energy into efforts that don't solve problems but just shuffle them around.

The day laborers in Herndon are hungry, and they have hungry families. People will go anywhere and do anything to feed their children. If we could figure out a way to put our energy into finding solutions to the poverty in the homelands of these workers, they wouldn't feel the need to leave the families they love and risk their lives (as many have) to come to the United States and perform backbreaking labor while suffering the indignity of being followed.


In the meantime, couldn't we be compassionate?

MARY CURRY NARAYAN


Vienna

HELL NO.

DOUBLE HELL NO.

There's plenty of food in Mexico. God knows they ship enough of it to US.

Keep some and feed your people, Bush Puppy!!

The answer is really two fold: tighten enforcement against the illegal aliens, while channeling funds from them and people from their communities of origin that are living here legally into job creation there.

There is far too much immigrant remittance money going into the consumption of prepared goods and passage money for even more illegal aliens. If the illegals find it harder to get by here and improving quality of life there they will reduce inflow and and the flow will reverse.

There is one thing that would solve ALL of Mexico's PERCEIVED problems of poverty, etc. and that would be to get rid of the CORRUPTION in their government. You KNOW they are sitting on a gold mine of OIL and WHERE is THAT money going??? Right into the pockets of the government thieves. PROBLEM SOLVED.

If the illegal millions here went south of the border and "demanded" from their own government what they "demand" from the US the problem would be solved! Even though law enforcement & government in Mexico are corrupt, these millions could surely overthrow them. But no, they'd rather come here & sponge off US rather than standing up for their rights in Mexico since the US WAS the path of least resistance.

That's EXACTLY right, had_enuf. WE WERE the path of least resistance. They definitely could improve the situation in their own country if they had the MOTIVATION and that motivation would be the FENCE.