Thread: Josh Moon: Illegal immigration debate SOB STORY

Josh Moon: Illegal immigration debate has reached absurd level
Josh Moon • March 10, 2011

In the Montgomery public school system, nearly $170,000 per year is spent on educating non-English-speaking students, many of whom are the children of illegal immigrants.

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Throughout the state, almost $6 million is spent to teach English as a second language to more than 20,000 non-English-speaking grade-school children.

Educating and feeding thousands of students who are either illegal immigrants themselves, or who are the children of illegal immigrants, accounts for a big chunk of education budgets all over Alabama.

And I don't mind at all.

Oh, I know that sort of indifference flies in the face of the fury and outrage that I'm supposed to feel over a Hispanic child coming in here and stealing an education, but I can't help it. I believe that in this country we have long established that education is a right, and that we take all comers.

No matter how you got here.

No matter your parents' status.

If you can get to the school door, you get in. And you get at least a shot at a decent education.

Honestly, I don't get the outrage. With our sales tax-based system, even illegal immigrants contribute about as much to the system as the rest of us. (And that's not mentioning their contributions to Social Security and Medicare.)

But forget the money. What's the alternative? These kids are already here, and most of them are citizens because they were born here. You think it would be better to leave them diploma-less, uneducated and unable to speak English? That seems more than a bit counterproductive.

But then, so does most of the illegal immigration debate, which our esteemed state legislators have taken up. That process got off to a roaring start with a legislator, Sen. Scott Beason, saying it's time to "empty the clip" to solve this problem.

What's happened to us?

It takes an uncaring attitude to stand up and rant about the perceived injustice of families fleeing violent settings in Mexico, where more than 30,000 murders were committed in the past four years and kidnappings are as common as houseflies. And it takes a stomach of gall to spout those same rants when you consider how we all ended up on this continent.
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We used to be a country that took great pride in its diversity and acceptance of other cultures and religions. But over the last few decades, we've gone from "Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" to a bunch of crotchety old folks in our bath robes yelling at the kids to stop taking our apples.

And nowhere is that change in mindset more evident than right here in the Capital City, where a new bill has emerged from a legislative committee that would require police officers to determine a "suspicious" person's immigration status when stopping them for any crime. That means that when you -- and by "you," I mean everyone who appears to be poor and Hispanic -- are stopped for speeding, you must be able to prove your citizenship or risk going to jail.

Can you imagine the outrage if cops started requiring rich, white people, perhaps like the ones who authored this bill, to prove that they're citizens? There would be riots in the streets.

But because the person targeted by this law doesn't have white skin or doesn't rise to the appropriate economic level, it seems a large portion of this state is perfectly willing to trample on their rights.

Sorry, I have a problem with that. Because it's not what we do here. In fact, it's the exact opposite of what we do here.

Look, I know that Arizona, Texas and California have serious issues with drugs streaming across their borders and coldblooded murderers venturing into border towns to conduct their ugly business. And long before now something should have been done to help those states.

But we're not facing many of those problems here. The majority of the immigrants who end up in Alabama, and specifically in the tri-county area, aren't criminals. They're hardworking men and women who are taking a frightening leap of faith in order to better provide for and protect their families.

Our problems here deal more with overhyped myths about illegals raking in billions in government handouts and taking jobs from legal workers, neither of which is true.

The bottom line is this: We have to address the problems that have been created by decades of essentially ignoring illegal immigration, and we must do something to secure our borders and put a stop to the criminals crossing them, but I think we can do that without compromising our values and beliefs and without trampling on the rights and protections guaranteed all U.S. citizens, no matter their skin color or social standing.

And I think it would serve everyone well to remember that when you're out there ranting and raving about this issue, you're talking about human beings.

Josh Moon's "Just Saying" appears each Sunday and Thursday. He can be reached by e-mail at jmoon@gannett.com.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/art ... surd-level

Typical Liberal SPHINCTER MUSCLE!

What has happened to us?

Idiots like this guy! OK, Josh Moon...You sit back and smile while somebody steals YOUR apples and smile about it. YOU pick up the tab for Educating and feeding thousands of students who are either illegal immigrants themselves, or who are the children of illegal immigrants...

YOU open YOUR home to the "families fleeing violent settings in Mexico, where more than 30,000 murders were committed in the past four years and kidnappings are as common as houseflies", as if that will never happen here!

And this is the most outrageous statement:

And nowhere is that change in mindset more evident than right here in the Capital City, where a new bill has emerged from a legislative committee that would require police officers to determine a "suspicious" person's immigration status when stopping them for any crime. That means that when you -- and by "you," I mean everyone who appears to be poor and Hispanic -- are stopped for speeding, you must be able to prove your citizenship or risk going to jail.

Can you imagine the outrage if cops started requiring rich, white people, perhaps like the ones who authored this bill, to prove that they're citizens? There would be riots in the streets.

YOU, Josh Moon, don't have to produce a legal driver's license or proof of identity just like the rest of us, regardless of our economic status?

Look, I know that Arizona, Texas and California have serious issues with drugs streaming across their borders and coldblooded murderers venturing into border towns to conduct their ugly business. And long before now something should have been done to help those states.

But we're not facing many of those problems here. The majority of the immigrants who end up in Alabama, and specifically in the tri-county area, aren't criminals. They're hardworking men and women who are taking a frightening leap of faith in order to better provide for and protect their families.

Our problems here deal more with overhyped myths about illegals raking in billions in government handouts and taking jobs from legal workers, neither of which is true.

Boy! This guy is in for a rude awakening! With this attitude, they will be facing these problems sooner than he thinks. Maybe he should move to Utah!

Sorry, this stuff gets me into a rant!