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Guest Opinion: Rising resentment toward illegal immigrants ominous

LORENZO SIERRA
Tucson Citizen

"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."
- Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 1

Sometime this year, someone somewhere in Arizona will commit a murderous act toward someone they consider an "illegal alien."

I hope and pray this does not happen.

But it's inevitable.

As an issue, illegal immigration is nearing a perfect storm of frustration. Politicians pass accountability in a never-ending cycle. Employers shirk blame as they cannot be held legally accountable for employees who provide forged documentation. Immigrants consciously risk their lives for the opportunity to work in America. Ideologically influenced newspaper columnists talk about humans in a dehumanizing manner. Racists have latched onto an issue where they openly practice bigotry and find themselves aligned with an increasing percentage of the population.

"Have been saying all along we need to do some 'Turkey' hunting of our own, at the border and if need be on the streets of our comunities. Is this advocating violance, no it's imposing justice that our elected oficials won't."

Please forgive the misspellings. The above statement comes verbatim from the Web site phxnews.com's "Your Opinion" section. Sentiments like this can be seen all across the Internet. Letters to the editor of mainstream newspapers feature more eloquent letters, but the underlying resentment is the same.

And it's growing louder every day.

Yes, violence is inevitable. Violence is the rebuttal racists use in a serious social debate.

The same politicians who pass the immigration buck will loudly decry the action. Employers will continue to hire those of questionable legal status. Ideologically influenced columnists will politicize a homicide. Racists will rejoice and make a hero of the shooter. Latinos will mobilize. And well-meaning but misguided citizens will write letters to the editor that essentially say, "He was here illegally anyway."

In the end, a human being will be severely harmed or killed. But we've all done such a good job of dehumanizing those who are here illegally that we won't even acknowledge the suffering of the victim's loved ones.

Again, I sincerely hope this does not happen. And I surely hope those in the public eye or in law enforcement will not proclaim "I never saw this coming." Even worse will be when anti-immigration leaders hypocritically proclaim sorrow and outrage. But you know that's going to happen, too.

My greatest fear, however, is that this resentment is seeping its way toward Americans of Latino descent.

I often wonder: If all of the Mexicans who are here illegally left willingly tomorrow, would there still be resentment against American Latinos? Sadly, my gut says yes.

June 8 and 9, newspapers across the country featured stories about the U.S. Census Bureau's announcement that the Latino population has reached 41.3 million.

The news site msn.com, as it often does, held a "live vote" tied to that story. The question was: "Does the Hispanic population boom represent a plus or minus for the United States?"

I voted "plus."

At the time I took the poll, 20,100 people had responded; 61 percent of the people in this unscientific poll voted "minus."

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness may take a little longer for me to achieve.

Yes, the Latino population will continue to outpace all others. Yes, Latinos will become an increasingly influential presence in America.

There's no stopping it.

The inevitable violence I predict for undocumented Mexicans may not necessarily move to American Latinos, but the possibility is there.

Realistically, I see a short-term blocking of Latinos from the highest levels of commerce and government. While not as serious as violence, the exclusion of American Latinos will slow America's path to a shared, prosperous future.

I can't stress enough my desire that my predictions do not come true. But we're in a time of great change. Change has a way of bringing out the worst in people - especially those who perceive losses due to the change.

In William Shakespeare's "Macbeth," the title character is warned of impending doom. Even so, he cannot avoid it.

I hope we're not a tragic figure like Macbeth.

Lorenzo Sierra is a native Arizonan who lives in Gilbert.