Thread: Dallas News: Texan of Year-- the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 78c46.html

2007 DMN Texan of the Year: The Illegal Immigrant

He is at the heart of a great culture war in Texas – and the nation, credited with bringing us prosperity and blamed for abusing our resources. How should we deal with this stranger among us?

He breaks the law by his very presence. He hustles to do hard work many Americans won't, at least not at the low wages he accepts. The American consumer economy depends on him. America as we have known it for generations may not survive him.

We can't seem to live with him and his family, and if we can live without him, nobody's figured out how. He's the Illegal Immigrant, and he's the 2007 Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year – for better or for worse. We can't seem to live with him and his family, and if we can live without him, nobody's figured out how.

He's the Illegal Immigrant, and he's the 2007 Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year – for better or for worse. Given the public mood, there seems to be little middle ground in debate over illegal immigrants. Spectacular fights over their presence broke out across Texas this year, adding to the national pressure cooker as only Texas can.

To their champions, illegal immigrants are decent, hardworking people who, like generations of European immigrants before them, just want to do better for their families and who contribute to America's prosperity. They must endure hatred and abuse by those of us who want the benefits of cheap labor but not the presence of illegal immigrants.

Especially here in Texas, his strong back and willing heart help form the cornerstone of our daily lives, in ways that many of us do not, or will not, see. The illegal immigrant is the waiter serving margaritas at our restaurant table, the cook preparing our enchiladas. He works grueling hours at a meatpacking plant, carving up carcasses of cattle for our barbecue (he also picks the lettuce for our burgers). He builds our houses and cuts our grass. She cleans our homes and takes care of our children.

Yet to those who want them sent home, illegal immigrants are essentially lawbreakers who violate the nation's borders. They use public resources – schools, hospitals – to which they aren't entitled and expect to be served in a foreign language. They're rapidly changing Texas neighborhoods, cities and culture, and not always for the better. Those who object get tagged as racists.

Whatever and whoever else the illegal immigrant is, everybody has felt the tidal wave of his presence. According to an analysis of government data by the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, Texas' immigrant population has jumped a whopping 32.7 percent since 2000, a period in which immigration to the United States has exceeded, in sheer numbers, all previous historical eras. Half the immigrants in the state – 7 percent of all Texans – are estimated to be here illegally.

Though many would agree that the status quo cannot be sustained – more illegal immigrants arrive each year than legal ones, a sure sign that the system is a joke – neither Texas nor the nation seemed nearer in 2007 to resolving this complex crisis. We can't deport 12 million people who already live here, but we can't leave our back door open indefinitely. Compromise comes hard because the issue is tangled up with the most basic aspects of everyday life, down to the core of what it means to be American.

This essay cannot put a name or a face to an illegal immigrant, because that would subject him to possible deportation. Because he lives underground, the illegal immigrant becomes, in our rancorous debate, less a complex human being and more a blank screen upon which both sides can project their hopes and fears.

If illegal immigration were an easy problem to fix, the nation wouldn't be at an impasse. In the current atmosphere, it seems, reason doesn't stand a chance of digging us out. Ask Irving Mayor Herb Gears, a man once denounced by anti-immigration activists for running what they called a "sanctuary city." He then found himself targeted by Hispanics because of the city's participation in a federal deportation program.

"One week I'm a traitor, the next week I'm a patriot," laments Mr. Gears.

The mayor says he just wants to respect both people, and the law. His exasperated manner seems to ask, Why can't you do both? Good question.



VOICES-- Joe Loya, Irving Mayor Herb Gears and Tim O'Hare, Farmers Branch council member
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To their champions, illegal immigrants are decent, hardworking people who,

What is decent about breaking the law? Come back and tell us more about it after your daughter has been raped.

THE BS THAT SPEWS OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF OPEN BORDER IDIOTS NEVER SEIZES TO AMAZE ME! IT IS SOOOOO RIDICULOUS.

Quote- The mayor says he just wants to respect both people, and the law. His exasperated manner seems to ask, Why can't you do both? Good question.

WHY IS THERE EVEN A QUESTION OF WHETHER THE LAW SHOULD BE RESPECTED?This is why I worry that we will never be rid of them-because elected officials can't decide who or what is more important-the tax paying legal citizenry and the law OR the parasitic illegals-Come on even a child can figure it out.
These OBLers are as useful as neutered,toothless guard dogs.
This country doesn't NEED illegals-NEVER has-THEY NEED US-thats why they come here,not the other way around.





Head 'em up,move 'em out Rawhide!
PS-Does anyone remember the good old days when elected officials and law enforcement actually had backbones?

Head 'em up,move 'em out Rawhide!


Head 'em up,move 'em out Bush!

Too bad a diserving individiual wasn't awarded this recognition. There are a lot of good people doing a lot of good for others that should have been noticed instead of the illegal alien story.

Dixie

Duplicate post.
Perhaps missed since the original is in General Discussion.
Please refer any further comments to:
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-96217-texan.html+year