(Name-mce) ListServ City Vents Anger at Illegal Immigrants

[Pat Luftman]

Barbara, I read your comments with interest.

The issue we're discussing here is HUGE & has many causes & possible 
solutions.

The example you gave of a family being "dropped off" in a Central American 
country confuses me somewhat. Through fate & circumstance,  we are born 
where we are born.

If ones does have the misfortune to be born into a 3rd World country, I do 
agree there is little one can do to lift oneself up. Our family does what it 
can financially to donate to those charities that offer assistance & 
resources to those less fortunate than we, an admittedly upper class white 
family ( except for our daughther, adopted from China)  who considers 
themselves fantastically lucky & blessed.

Should there be a global living wage? YES. Should people committ themselves 
to assisting those who are less fortunate? YES. Should we vote OUT 
politicians who do not address the solutions you suggest & vote IN politicos 
that do? ABSOLUTELY.

Am I concerned about crime, no matter who commits it? YES.

I confess I'm not as well schooled as some on this list in world affairs but 
this is my .02 on the subject.

'Nuff said.

Pat


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Barbara Acosta" <barbara.acosta3 at verizon.net>
To: <Name-mce at nameorg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 11:44 AM
Subject: Re: (Name-mce) ListServ City Vents Anger at Illegal Immigrants


>
>
>
>
>
> The elephant in the room that has barely been addressed in this discussion
> so far is STRUCTURAL INEQUITIES.
>
> But before I go into that, let's start with the human story. Imagine that
> you and your spouse and children were dropped off in one of the Central
> American countries with no money, no passports, no income or savings, and 
> no
> way to put food on your table. You look everywhere, but there are no jobs,
> and even the few people who find jobs do not earn enough to feed their
> families. Desperate, you apply for a visa at the U.S. embassy, hoping that
> you can obtain legal permission to move somewhere with more opportunities.
> But they take one look at your empty bank account and throw your 
> application
> in the trash.
>
> Will you stay and face sure starvation, watching your children waste away
> from preventable diseases? Or will you make the decision to seek a way to
> survive anywhere you can, in a place where your kids will have a chance at
> an education, clean running water, and enough to eat, even if it entails
> great risks? Would you consider violating the law if it were the only way
> for your family to survive? Would you perhaps even risk losing an arm or a
> leg and making your way across a desert with nothing more than a liter of
> water and no map if you knew it was your only chance to save your 
> children's
> lives?
>
> The burning question is, then, WHY do people risk all of this? Do they
> really CHOOSE to break the law? Is this "choice" morally more repugnant 
> than
> what the U.S. government has done to create the conditions that led to 
> this
> horrible predicament for millions of people? And how are these conditions
> related to our own issues of job insecurity, lack of healthcare, and 
> decent
> living conditions for workers here in the U.S. -- the same ones who tend 
> to
> get so angry about illegal immigration?
>
> The illegal immigration problem would not exist if workers were treated
> fairly around the world. Imagine if there were a global living wage --  
> what
> if Walmart had to pay everyone fairly no matter whether they lived in
> Decatur Georgia or the People's Republic of China. Imagine if everyone
> earned enough to support their families and had decent healthcare,
> education, and nutrition. Would they still feel obliged to come here? 
> And --
> wait a minute -- then there would be decent-paying jobs for our own 
> working
> families and they would no longer feel threatened by outsourcing. Nor 
> would
> they  need to blame "illegals" for taking their jobs. Why is this question
> never addressed in any of the congressional debates?
>
> The U.S. government and the great economic powers like the World Bank and
> the IMF have a great deal of power to fix this. But they won't unless 
> enough
> of us demand it. The power structures will always be more interested in
> maintaining structural inequities so there will be sources of cheap labor
> and ever increasing profits for big business. It is all of the rest of us
> who are victimized by these policies. In fact, it is in the interests of 
> big
> business to let the underclasses continue fighting amongst themselves.
> That's one of the oldest tricks of domination in history.
>
> Let's not blame the victim, folks. Let's get out there and speak the 
> truth.
>
> bda
>
>
>
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