The price you pay for the freedom you seek is the equal to the blood sweat and tears of those who came before you. They lifted you out of an uncertain future and gave us all the opportunity to live better lives than they could ever have. This is the price of the American Dream. In that dream, and only once purchased for such a high cost; you have choices. Choices where before your parents and grandparents had none.
This is the truth of what the American experience is about.
It’s about being able to self determine your place in the world. It’s about being able to build whatever future you want for yourself and your children without the high cost your parents and their parents had to pay.Once you are here, you are a dreamer.
Irish 1845-1849
The potato famine drove many Irish to seek to emigrate from Ireland in order to escape death and poverty. Sound familiar? The British offered a “discounted” rate to help settle Canada in that time period. Many Irish took the opportunity. However, once they landed in Canada, they quickly crossed the US border for major cities like Boston and NY. Where were our border fences then? Once here, they themselves were treated as inferior to “whiter” Europeans like the British. They were often called “white negroes”
Italians -1860 – 1920
In this time period, many Italians escaped poverty, corruption, a bloody war that eventually unified the country and the lack of farmland in southern Italy. What is a sad truth is that many Europeans immigrants who were already here through the Italians were “not white enough” and discriminated against them. The immigration process was a very simple thing, back then. All you ha dot do is fill out a form answer whether you were northern or southern Italian, get a physical and you were off in the streets looking for a job at the docks of NYC. They were here for jobs, and saved their money. They often returned back to Italy to support their families. Ultimately, these people were abused for cheap labor and faced similar racist treatment as Mexican and Latino immigrants do today.
In a similar fashion, Mexican immigrants are facing poor economic prospects, corruption, drug violence and a myriad of other problems that push them towards the borders of the land of opportunity. All I am trying to highlight here is that racist history is repeating itself in painful ways.
Immigration:
Ultimately, the problems of illegal and legal immigration to the US cannot be solved with electrified fences, minutemen shooting border crossers, and with flawed laws that further marginalize and alienate a people who have enriched American culture. Taking away the opportunity in “land of opportunity” will only hurt those who come here for jobs and safety, not the criminals selling drugs on our streets and murdering in gangs. The problem needs to be addressed with a broken legal immigration system that is gamed against the poor and illiterate. The inherent corruption and the poison of Drug cartels needs to the taken out of the Mexican government. I find it interesting how often we send US troops to assist in “Regime Change” halfway around the world… I wonder if with the Mexican government truly committed to a real partnership with the United States, we couldn’t wipe out the cartels within a few months of a military campaign. Nothing would resonate more with the American people than actually using our military for fighting the drug traffickers that make a Mexico a living hell for its natives.
We already do this to some extent, my point is that we need to do more and at a larger scale. Rather than throw money and token military training, let’s bring the full brunt of our military to bear and wipe out the problem once and for all. We need to enact real trade partnerships with Latin America and Mexico to ensure that not only we benefit economically, but that Mexico will also reap the rewards of being a good neighbor.
Economic Opportunity
Mexico currently has declining oil production, crippled by corruption and technological difficulties. The US imports more oil from Canada than any other country, followed by Mexico. Yes, that’s Canada and Mexico, our neighbors. Electronics, Industry, high tech jobs, Education. We can help them with any of these and help fix the underlying problem of illegal immigration. The question is… Would we want to? I do think a future in which Americans are running south into Mexico from Texas is a real possibility in the not so distant future. I mean, did you know the un-employment rate in Mexico is lower than it is here in the USA? Land of opportunity huh? We have to open our eyes, a lot to learn and need to embrace the new Americas, because if don’t take care of our neighbors and partner with them, Brazil, Mexico and Canada will rule the world economy of the future.
Keep those Canadians out!!
By the way; How about that border fence across our Canadian border? If we are building fences and securing our borders, there is no bigger border to secure than the Canadian border.
Who likes Canadian bacon anyway? Or Celine Dion & Hockey? Time to allow others to dream, we don’t own the American dream, it was never ours to own. It was always ours to share.
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