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09-26-2006, 02:53 PM #1
A middle ground on border battles?
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/ne ... 287863.php
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
A middle ground on border battles?
YVETTE CABRERA
Register columnist
ycabrera@ocregister.com Kathy Knepper faithfully attends Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa with her husband, is home-schooling her children so they can receive a Christian-based education and describes herself as ultraconservative.
She's also an immigrant from El Salvador who was raised in Santa Ana by a mother who supported her family by working as a housekeeper, sometimes seven days a week.
I met with Knepper last week to get her take on the debate that's gripped our nation so intensely this past year: illegal immigration.
When covering this debate, we in the media tend to highlight the voices of extremists and vigilantes who march to the border to halt the "invasion."
I've often wondered, where are the opinions of the average, everyday person – those who are working, raising their children and very much impacted by this issue, but who don't seek the spotlight?
Frankly, I don't believe the majority of Americans think like California Coalition for Immigration Reform activist Barbara Coe, who describes undocumented immigrants as "illegal barbarians," nor do I believe that they harbor the hatred of Aliso Viejo Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist, who told a group of illegal-immigrant-rights activists to "go to hell."
So where are the people in the middle?
Knepper is someone who sees both sides of the issue. On one hand, she's firmly against anyone who enters the United States illegally, and if they're caught, believes they should be sent home.
"I believe that coming to any place and doing something that is breaking the law is wrong," says Knepper, 26.
Knepper was a student at Century High School in Santa Ana when Proposition 187, the 1994 state initiative to deny social and medical services to undocumented immigrants, was being debated.
Just four years earlier, at age 10, she had legally emigrated from El Salvador with her mother and sister after her father, a surgeon, was killed in a car crash. Knepper's mother, a secretary, couldn't support her daughters on her salary, so they came to Santa Ana to start a new life.
"I read Prop. 187, and I thought, 'Yes, I agree with this. This is something that ought to be done,' " says Knepper. When you're (a teenager), you tend not to think of anyone but yourself, in that it didn't affect me – I was a legal immigrant."
Looking back, she's not so sure she would vote for Prop. 187 today.
"You can't automatically assume that all people who come here illegally come to stay at home, have kids, be on welfare," says Knepper. "I know people who have come to this country who have worked hard to get ahead."
Growing up surrounded by neighbors like her family – immigrants from Latin America working to survive – she says put a human face on the issue.
"I realized what so many people don't, that it is about people," says Knepper. "We wish things could be different, but the fact is illegal immigration is here, the people are here, and they are exactly that, people. They have needs, and there are reasons why they came."
It's an issue she thinks about every day, concerned that her children will inherit a nation of intolerance and racism.
"I want to know when they walk down the street, being American citizens, will people look at them and treat them differently because they automatically assume they are illegal immigrants or the offspring of illegal immigrants?" says Knepper. "This conflict has the ability to tear this land apart, to divide us."
So she has examined the issue from both practical and compassionate viewpoints.
If an undocumented immigrant arrives at a hospital, she says, "Are we supposed to say, 'I'm sorry, you're illegal. I can't help you. Let's just make a comfortable place for you to die.' "
Instead of sending 12 million undocumented immigrants home, Knepper hopes Congress will overhaul the immigration system to acknowledge the contributions of immigrants.
"I believe that if a person comes here to work, that the door should be open," says Knepper. "If they are here to work and they are paying taxes, then there is the money to build schools, there is the money to fix the roads, there is the money to fix all these things that people are claiming are big problems with illegal immigration."
The difference between Knepper and people like Coe or Gilchrist is that she doesn't see this as us vs. them. Her religious faith has helped her find a middle ground, one in which we can find a solution while always remembering the human lives involved.
"One of those things that I truly believe is that the Lord has called us to love one another and help those in need," she says.
CONTACT US: Cabrera's opinions on local news appear every Tuesday and Thursday. She is a former metro reporter who has covered issues including immigration and higher education. Contact her at 714-796-3649 or ycabrera@ocregister.comSupport our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn
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09-26-2006, 02:55 PM #2
Yes? Where is the middle ground? Is it on the borders of the new nation of Aztlan east of Louisiana?
What are we supposed to give up as Americans to meet the illegal aliens and their supporters "half way'?
WJoin our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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09-26-2006, 03:25 PM #3
I know Santa Ana very well. It's a sanctuary city and was taken over decades ago.
Article is too drippy for me, I've seen too much.Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at https://eepurl.com/cktGTn
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09-26-2006, 03:30 PM #4
I'll tell you where the "Middle Ground" is. It is the small patch of ground on each side of the US border with Mexico. Illegal aliens need to be crossing that "Middle Ground" headed south as soon as possible to diffuse this explosive situation.
WJoin our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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09-26-2006, 07:05 PM #5
One thing that keeps jumping out at me as I read through these articles which are sympathetic to illegal immigrants. The media generally ridicules and has no time for people of faith, except as regards this issue of illegal immigration. I guess if they can use religion to justify their open borders agenda, they aren't above it, even if they personally have contempt for religion and religious people. What hypocrites.
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09-26-2006, 07:39 PM #6
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Originally Posted by Yvette Cabrera
Originally Posted by Yvette Cabrera'58 Airedale
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09-26-2006, 07:46 PM #7Looking back, she's not so sure she would vote for Prop. 187 today."I realized what so many people don't, that it is about people," says Knepper. "We wish things could be different, but the fact is illegal immigration is here, the people are here, and they are exactly that, people. They have needs, and there are reasons why they came."[b]Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.
- Arnold J. Toynbee
Laura Loomer - Woke up this morning to a @nytimes article...
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