All they need is a foothold.

Does anybody else see a similarity between the proposed Arizona immigration law and the measures taken by the Germans in the 1930’s to identify Jews? The proposal would make it a REQUIREMENT for local Arizona law enforcement to determine an individual's immigration status if an officer SUSPECTS that person is in the country illegally. They can look at you and decide that you need to produce papers saying you are legally here in the US.


Those who think that somehow the Germans were intrinsically evil and that nothing like that could happen again should read the book “Stones from the River” by Ursula Hegi.  The Nazis didn’t march into Germany one day and take over as the Third Reich. It was a slow and gradual process that started with measures like those being proposed in Arizona. Things that were easy for people to shake their head at in disagreement and go on about their business. Next thing you know people are wearing stars on their clothes. Then another year or two later and they are being hauled off in the middle of the night to be murdered. Meanwhile everybody else is either brainwashed or living in fear of the crazies now running the country.

These border fanatics are employing the same tactics in Arizona. Their message – “Everything wrong with your life is THEIR fault. If we can just get control (get rid of) THEM things will be better for everybody.” I’ve had statistics quoted to me about the number of illegal aliens in prison, in gangs, in HUD housing, on welfare….. The people quoting these statistics don’t seem to understand that poverty is the common denominator for these issues, not alien status or their not-so-veiled implication that it’s based on somebody’s nationality.

Immigration needs reform. Nobody can argue that point. My opinion is we do two things. First, punish the people who employ illegal aliens. They are the ones promoting illegal immigration into this country. Easy explanation for why we don’t. They are the business owners who make contributions to political campaigns. So instead we demonize the illegals who are, for the most part, coming here to make a better life for themselves. Isn’t that where most of us came from somewhere down the line?

For the better part of my twenty years in HR I have collected I-9s to make sure our employees are able to work legally in the US. I have never once had my records inspected by INS. I’ve never talked to another HR person who has. Employers know that the government doesn’t have the resources to enforce the law. They are too busy building fences and adding guards at the border. Let’s enforce our immigration laws at the source of the income. Enforce existing laws against HIRING illegal aliens and punish those who ignore them.

Second, issue working visas that would make it easier for immigrants to work here on a temporary basis. This benefits everybody. We could start collecting taxes off of these wages. It would also raise the overall wage rate in the US which right now is being held down because of under the table wages paid to illegal immigrants. With a legal method to come here and work the people left trying to illegally cross the borders would be criminals trying to avoid the scrutiny of the INS.

I am probably a little more sensitive these days to the immigration issue. My new son-in-law is Mexican. So, when I hear people paint all Mexicans as (fill in the blank), it makes me very angry. These days it seems to be OK to spew hatred and venom on Latinos so long as you replace the word Mexican with “Illegal Immigrants”. You think that means you’re not a racist? Bullshit.