Quote:
Originally Posted by DrPhil
Sigmadiva, read this post and think about your reply to my other post. Your reply made absolutely no sense to me. 
The correlation is not a loose one. It is a high correlation, just as it is when discussing race and social class in America. Just as when discussing social issues in America, if it's a matter of the "haves and have nots," it's basically synonymous with it being a matter of race and ethnicity. There are social patterns in who the "haves and have nots" are. We know where to find the "have nots" in the poor neighborhoods in America and in the poor countries in the world. We call it "city planning" in America and I call it "country planning" in the world.
So, as I said, people need to stop dancing around the issue. Stop pretending as though this is just a matter of the lucky ones with the money as though that's a coincidence. Stop pretending as though the country of origin and race and ethnicity don't matter...unless we're suddenly talking about drug cartels. Facing the inequality of the immigration debate doesn't mean that we agree with illegal immigration and are opposed to regulations. It means that we are being HONEST about the issues at hand and the pros and cons of the laws that are enacted. Put our brains and social consciousness to good use. |
I respect your opinion, and we can debate the academic / philosophical issue all day, but the bottom line is that there are illegal immigrants here, be they brown, white, black, what-have-you, with money or no money, and the issue will need to get resolved.
I can tell you that on a practical day-to-day basis I don't think people are really worried about the socioeconomic concerns. I think all they see are people moving in their area who they are already suspicious about, and the fact they the may not be legal presents a problem.
For me personally, what I see is increasing violence coming out of Mexico, pushing its way to the US. I live in a border state, and I'm about 6 hours from the border, so the issue literally is hitting close to home to me. I don't want that violence here. If it takes tougher immigration laws to help stop it, then I'm going for the tougher immigration laws.
Now, to be completely flippant about it
, if you are so concerned about the economic disparity that some illegal immigrants face, then just put your money where your mouth is and pay for their pursuit to legal status until the laws are such that we let any and everybody in this country, no matter what.