The immigration debate - a view from an immigrant

You could not have missed all the commotion surrounding the proposed immigration reform. Massive protests in all the major cities in the country have marked the occasion and a boycott of business by the "immigrant community" scheduled for tomorrow May 1, is purportedly intended to show the American public what life in America would be without immigrants.

To be swept up in the maelstrom of emotion surrounding this issue is to miss the point completely. The proposed reform is not in my opinion anti-immigrant. It is anti-illegal immigrant. Why is that so hard to understand?

By the way what's the deal with the euphemism "undocumented workers"? They came into the country illegally. They're illegal aliens. Let's call it what it is. If you don't like the moniker, leave.

Time for full disclosure. I came to this country as an immigrant. A legal one. I filled out the forms, went through the numerous steps and bore the inconvenience (some would say, the humiliation) of the wheels of bureaucracy grinding slow and grinding exceeding small. And in the end, after what seemed like an interminable delay, was admitted to the country.

I can honestly say that I have never encountered one instance of prejudice, or anti-immigrant bias in my 8 years in this country. Not one. Perhaps I choose to not look for bias where there is none.

In any event, the reason I went through the process and suffered the slings and arrows of the immigration process such as it is, is that I felt I could make a better life for myself and my family. I believe I have done that. That's the reason everyone comes to America.

Now, imagine my chagrin when I find out that all the while I've been waiting patiently in line outside the country, a few who have chosen to break the law and sneak into the country under cover of darkness in a container or in the trunk of a car, are comfortably ensconced in the country and are now agitating to make their status legal. And waving Mexican flags to make their point!!

Am I the only one that thinks that's adding insult to injury?

The proposed reforms allow actually give people who have been here more than five years illegally a path to citizenship. I think that's extraordinarily generous and so completely American.

To the people who don't get the concept, allow me to illustrate: It's a rainy day and you've waited in line to get a ticket to the movie. Your friends (or family) who met you at the theater are having their credentials checked and their tickets "processed".

You can't buy tickets for your friends, so having waited in line in the rain, you get your ticket and go into the theater. You find that a number of seats are taken up by people who have managed to sneak into the theater unobserved by the ushers. Fine. You take your seat and the show begins.

Meanwhile your friends are waiting in the rain for tickets. The usher finds the people who snuck in without tickets but allows them to continue to watch the show while he goes away to "process" their tickets. They aren't told to go out and get in the back of the line in the rain. They still get to watch the movie despite the fact that they broke the law. Meanwhile the law-abiding guys who chose not to sneak into the theater are getting soaked to the skin.

How is this even remotely fair?

So, Apesadumbrado mis amigos, but I don't agree. Get in line, go through the process and live the American dream. If you're here illegally, suck it up and face the music.

Meanwhile on May 1, I shall be at work to compensate for the slackers who are out waving Mexican flags. Somebody's got to work for the American Dream you know.

[Immigration]