Posted on 06/09/2006 4:51:54 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback
Did you know that “95 percent of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens?” Or that “75 percent of people on the Most Wanted List in Los Angeles are illegal aliens”? What’s more, “Over [two-thirds] of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on [Medicaid] whose births were paid for by taxpayers.”
This is outrageous. Especially since none of it is true! Instead, it’s just one example of how, in some ways, we have gone beyond worrying about illegal immigration to demonizing the immigrants themselves.
This example came from a widely circulated e-mail that was posted on at least 130 conservative websites. It listed ten “facts about immigration” and gave as its source the Los Angeles Times.
Not only was the Los Angeles Times not the source of these “facts,” when the paper examined the alleged “facts,” none of them withstood scrutiny. Some of them distorted the data: For instance, approximately 62 percent of all births in Los Angeles County are to Hispanic women. But this number includes American citizens, legal aliens, Hispanics from countries other than Mexico, and has nothing to do with Medicaid.
The so-called “facts” about illegal alien criminality are even worse: They are deliberate misrepresentations or complete fabrications.
Unfortunately, this is only the tip of an often very ugly iceberg. The illegal immigration problem is often called an “invasion” that threatens the existence of the United States. Illegal aliens are depicted as part of an effort to “reconquer” the American Southwest. And it’s not only illegal immigrants: American citizens of Mexican ancestry are also regarded as part of this plot.
Now, there are a few fringe Latino groups that talk about “reconquista”—that is all they are, however: fringe. To judge all Latinos, including illegal aliens, by the words of these groups is as fair as judging all Christians by the actions of clinic bombers or Fred Phelps.
A concern for fairness isn’t the most important reason that Christians ought to oppose this demonization of “the strangers in our midst.” As theologian T. M. Moore recently wrote on BreakPoint Online, “God defends strangers. He has compassion for those who have left all and risked all to find new lives in a strange country.”
Moore reminds us that God expects His people’s “attitude toward the strangers and sojourners in their midst” to reflect His own concern.
Now, this does not mean that Christians ought not to be concerned about the massive lawbreaking, by both illegal immigrants and those who employ them. We must! The rule of law is a Christian contribution, coming out of the Reformation, and it requires respect for law, just as the Bible does. Nor does it mean that there’s one particular immigration proposal that Christians ought to be supporting.
What it does mean is that Christians must work to see that the immigration debate generates light instead of heat. We must insist that the illegal-immigration issue be addressed without treating millions of Americans, many of whom have died protecting our country, as a kind of fifth column.
That is the very least we can do if we are obedient to God’s command to welcome strangers. And that’s a fact I got from the highest possible Source.
For comparison, how difficult would it be for a boatload of illegals to land in NZ, get jobs and apartments with no documentation?
Thought provoking article. We all read this and see different things. I am a big supporter of seeking the truth and that is one of the messages I think he is trying to send.
Regarding the treatment of "strangers in the land", we are commanded to treat them fairly and subject to the same laws we subject our selves to.
To be honest this illegal alien thing is a hot button for me and most other conservatives and it is hard for me to think objectively about it sometimes. I can tell you in GREAT DETAIL what I don't want but I can't tell you what I want in immigration policy.
> For comparison, how difficult would it be for a boatload of illegals to land in NZ, get jobs and apartments with no documentation?
It happens often. This past week, an Illegal was dumped at hospital with massive head injuries by four of his friends. Indonesian, it seems. Fruit picker, lo illegal wages. Seems he somehow got injured on the job...
We collect "overstayers" from all over the South Pacific: people who come to "visit" then forget about inconveniences like return air tickets and visas and the like. And we have a very long, deserted shoreline with plenty of places to land boats undetected.
The galling thing is they will, while their "case" is being heard, most likely qualify for every government Benefit going.
America has a particularly nasty challenge: two very long, undefended borders that are fair pourous over their entirety. Not funny at all, and good on ya for clamping down on it...
My objection is calling these parasites "Immigrants". They are NOT. They are Homeland Invaders, unwanted guests. They have not "Immigrated" by definition, because they have not gone thru the Immigration Process. Like I had to do: waiting my turn and doing things by the book.
They have jumped the queue, broken the rules, broken the law, gotten in ahead of everybody else who has respectfully gotten into line, followed the process, and waited their turn.
They are NOT Immigrants. They are Parasites. They are Illegal Aliens. Not Immigrants.
There is no such thing as an Illegal Immigrant.
Last May 1st Mexican illegal aliens & their accessories . . excuse me! "undocumented workers/migrants" and friends `belly-ached', demanded citizenship and threatened to go back to Mexico.
So now they're "on the road to citizenship" and will be made Americans, with all the emoluments and privileges of US citizenship (even if they still prefer displaying their native flag, and never mind all the other applicants following our laws) and that's just the way it is because our chief law enforcement officer says we can't enforce our laws.
Won't we then need more Mexicans to do the jobs these new Americans won't do?
So more Mexicans sneak across the (still unsecured) border and they become "undocumented workers/migrants". On May 1st they start belly-aching & demanding, so we make these "undocumented workers/migrants" US citizens and provide them with all the emoluments . . .
Won't we then need . . .
I agree, it's wrong to hire illegals. No one is punishing the employers or the enablers. Cheap labor who work hard and cannot complain or call in sick.
Very well said!
If not motivated by hatred for America and American citizens, then what motivates you to aid and abet the illegal aliens responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 Americans and the sexual abuse of almost 3,000 American children since President Bush took office?
Correction:
If not motivated by hatred for America and American citizens, then what motivates you to aid and abet the illegal aliens responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 Americans and the sexual abuse of almost 3,00015,000 American children since President Bush took office?
3,000 is the number of American children sexually abused by illegal aliens EVERY YEAR.
I truly wish you could ask that question of Chuck Colson personally. I suspect it would be OK by him. He didn't come out in favor of lawbreaking or against law enforcement. He came out against "false witness against thy neighbor" --- which is still a violation of the Big Ten, last time I checked.
So, Colson can cherry pick that email, and you can cherry pick Spiff's post, and Spiff can make that list and never get a grip on the fact that you could make a similar list about Blacks, lesbians, Scottish guys or dentists, but none of it means that the majority of us are engaging in demonization.
I understand your point, although I think Colson's objecting to an unwanted generalizing. For instance, an "extraordinarily large percentage" of the inmates in federal and state prisons are males. I think you'd object if somebody "demonized" males in general.
Not that it hasn't already been done --- by some feminists who view testosterone as a toxic substance and the y-chromosome as a genetic defect.
Is this your motto, Spiff?
When in trouble
When in doubt
Run in circles
Scream and shout
Should I go ahead and get the scissors and snip that from my Holy Bible?
This whole deal would not be a problem if we were a Chrisian nation. Maybe, some day.....
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