Change treatment of illegals
January 28, 2008
By Janice Rubin

It has been distressing to read news stories about parents who have been arrested and taken from their homes Gestapo-style, leaving their terrified children behind. Their crime: being undocumented workers.

Have we really become so heartless? I don't think so. However, the continual noise generated by Lou Dobbs and other haters makes it seem as though Americans want nothing more than to forcibly deport 12 million residents called "illegal aliens."

Could it be that the prime motivation of those who spout such constant venom is to rid the country of our most recent immigrants, who are often dark-skinned Latinos and South Asians? Such bigotry seems to be so compelling that they are willing to dispose of their humanity with various acts of cruel behavior. It ranges from frightening worker roundups to perversely influencing presidential candidates to do their bidding. These actions are increasing at an alarming rate.

A great number of undocumented workers have been here for years, working hard and raising children, paying at the very least, social security (which they are ineligible to collect) and sales taxes. In our spread-out country, we have enabled them to buy cars even when denied driver licenses. Many were actively encouraged to buy houses during the recent years of easy credit mortgage lending. Their hard work has become a necessary part of our economy. Now these same families are being ordered to leave the country in a matter of weeks, not even given time to sell their houses in a poor real estate market. None of this could have been possible without the collusion of the federal government, so the current self-righteous attitudes are patently hypocritical. Certainly, most immigrants would be here legally if they could.

Delving deeper we learn that our own economic policies, which benefit large American corporations, have often resulted in widespread unemployment and depressed wages in the countries from which large numbers of desperate workers have come. This is especially true in the Caribbean, Central and South America, and particularly Mexico, which is a prime focus of anti-immigrant hatred. What does it say about us when NAFTA resulted in at least 800,000 Mexican workers losing their jobs, and our response is to oppose their desperate efforts to work here so they can survive?

Recently, I attended a current events discussion in which seventy participants were asked "should we throw out twelve million illegal immigrants already here?" All but one in the room replied "no." Surprised, given the domination of the media by loud, aggressive anti-immigration forces, I wondered why these voices aren't being heard.

It is crucial that we do everything we can to stop this increasing destruction of people's lives. Please contact all your political representatives. Write letters and send e-mails to newspaper editors and columnists and radio and television commentators. Talk to your friends and associates. Ask them to do the same. Protest in every way possible the cruelty of forcibly deporting people who came here for the same reasons of economic survival and freedom as our own families. We who have been so fortunate to be a part of this nation of immigrants can afford to not only live but help others live.

Janice Rubin is a resident of Boynton Beach.
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