On Immigrants Thirsty for Freedom
The post read, "If you break the law to get here, you will break the law while here. Period." Then there was a link to a story about an illegal immigrant who had committed a horrible murder.
My comment:
"That's not true. You should talk to my Mexican family member. She has really opened my eyes. She was brought here illegally as a teenager, snuck in. It's a nice, warm, fuzzy idea that good people who want to come here in search of a better life should just put their name on a nice little list, and eventually it'll happen, but that's not how it works. If you lived in squallor with your children in a totally different world than anything we've ever dreamed of, you'd risk your life to change their future too. My family member was married to an American man for nine years. (Former Navy, by the way) who had never even been to Mexico. And she still couldn't get legal status. She worked hard for her family, AND paid taxes, even while she was illegal. Yes, you read that right. They paid a midwife cash, and had homebirths so they didn't use the system to get free care. She says she'd vote for Trump if she could vote! Even after my brother in law died and left her with their four American kids, it took years, and a generous lawyer who took her case for free, for her to get legal status. She is an AMAZING asset to our family, and one of the wisest people I know. I am such a better person for having known her. By the way, her parents and siblings are now here too (illegally), and none of them have ever been in trouble with the law. "
"I understand that there are evil people who do horrible things, but that happens everywhere. I know it's easy for us Americans to sit in our nice houses, and judge the rest of the world, but most of us don't have a hint of a clue what it's like to live in the third world. And once you get here, it's not sunshine and roses, with everything handed to you for free. It's still a huge struggle. So to make a blanket statement like "if you break the law to get here, you will break the law after. Period." I just can't even."
As Catholics, this is a difficult issue. I don't have any answers, and I don't pretend to know what the solutions are to our country's immigration problems. But I do know that we can't lump everyone together. That's a cop-out. It's so much more complicated than that.
My comment:
"That's not true. You should talk to my Mexican family member. She has really opened my eyes. She was brought here illegally as a teenager, snuck in. It's a nice, warm, fuzzy idea that good people who want to come here in search of a better life should just put their name on a nice little list, and eventually it'll happen, but that's not how it works. If you lived in squallor with your children in a totally different world than anything we've ever dreamed of, you'd risk your life to change their future too. My family member was married to an American man for nine years. (Former Navy, by the way) who had never even been to Mexico. And she still couldn't get legal status. She worked hard for her family, AND paid taxes, even while she was illegal. Yes, you read that right. They paid a midwife cash, and had homebirths so they didn't use the system to get free care. She says she'd vote for Trump if she could vote! Even after my brother in law died and left her with their four American kids, it took years, and a generous lawyer who took her case for free, for her to get legal status. She is an AMAZING asset to our family, and one of the wisest people I know. I am such a better person for having known her. By the way, her parents and siblings are now here too (illegally), and none of them have ever been in trouble with the law. "
"I understand that there are evil people who do horrible things, but that happens everywhere. I know it's easy for us Americans to sit in our nice houses, and judge the rest of the world, but most of us don't have a hint of a clue what it's like to live in the third world. And once you get here, it's not sunshine and roses, with everything handed to you for free. It's still a huge struggle. So to make a blanket statement like "if you break the law to get here, you will break the law after. Period." I just can't even."
As Catholics, this is a difficult issue. I don't have any answers, and I don't pretend to know what the solutions are to our country's immigration problems. But I do know that we can't lump everyone together. That's a cop-out. It's so much more complicated than that.
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