The immigration thing…
Pretty hot topic lately. I’ve taken some time to think about it and have finally formed my opinion although it’s sure to evolve. I’m going to stick primarily to the Mexicans since that seems to be the kindling for this fire.
There are many jobs American’s won’t do….for the same amount of money that "Mexican’s" will. A drive through the "plantations" of West Michigan is all that’s needed to see what I’m talking about. I wouldn’t go pick those crops for $5hr….nor would I necessarily want my kids doing it. That’s actually not how it works though. All those farms have "foremen" who are legal sub-contractors and live here year round. They are paid huge amounts of money and it’s up to them to get and pay their "crew". Just in case you didn’t know…that’s how the farms cover their azz…they don’t hire off "applications". I would expect that’s standard operating procedure for the large farms all over the country which is where most of the Mexican immigrants make a living from what I see.
I’ve got some really good Mexican friends and there’s some things I’ve learned from spending time with them….they’re the hardest working people I’ve ever seen. No complaints….bust their azz. They also have more appreciation for their heritage than any other people I’ve met. They know everything there is to know about their ancestors and can spend hours telling you how they’ve come to be standing before you…..can any of us do the same?….doubt it. I dare bet none of us know the names of people more than 2 or 3 generations old in our families. I don’t blame them one bit for coming here….I wouldn’t want to live in Mexico either. I blame our government for letting the illegal crossings go on as long as they have and putting us in the position we are in today. I blame the huge numbers of Americans who won’t spend the extra money to buy an American made product and would never in a million years work for minimum wage but feel we should ship all the Mexicans back to Mexico. Pride?…Patriotism?….where? Are you gonna go into the houses of these working illegals and tell them and their family to leave? Are you gonna take their place at the farm? Go for it. But be warned…your hands are going to get dirty.
With that being said there are some things some Mexicans are doing that I’m not thrilled about. First off is the overwhelming amount of "biting the hand that feeds you" going on. Pride in your heritage and culture is great…but lets not forget you live in America now. You are of course welcome to leave anytime you think there’s a better deal somewhere else. In America we speak English. Please learn it. And if you’re not going to learn it that’s fine too…..but you sure the hell better not come here and expect me or my kids to learn your language!
So how do we fix it? I’m not sure there is one "fix" for our problem. What good does adding more laws do when we can’t follow the laws we already have on the books? We can’t kick out the illegals…for reasons already stated. Who is going to take over their jobs?….you? The negative impact on our economy would be huge. The first thing we need to do is stop the flow of illegal’s. We have a process to immigrate to the US…..let’s try sticking to it. If a wall is what’s needed to keep the unwanted OUT then so be it. Many will argue that we have to "help" Mexico build it’s economy to fix the problem. That’s funny…..didn’t we already give up enough to Mexico with NAFTA? What more can we do? Until the criminals and corruption is out of the government there is absolutely nothing we can do. How do we get rid of that?…should we invade? Add a 51st state maybe? It’s up to the Mexican people to eliminate the crime, drugs, and corruption that runs rampant in their country. Do that…then we can help. I think that’s all for now…..