my name is ali sanchez, i'm a mormon and i'm pro-immigrant.
since i am the big one eight, i can vote:) yay for the american dream right?
so like any other responsible teenager interested in the political future of our country, i'm getting informed.
:)
and i came to a simple conclusion.
i'm a conservative democrat.
and i would move to canada if Mitt Romney ever got elected.
immigration is a huge deal in our family. just because we were blessed enough to be able to come here legally doesn't mean that other people shouldn't get the same chances.
in spanish class,we watched this movie about a girl who gets pregnant, and her baby daddy leaves her. so being the best mom she can possibly be, she decides that the only way she'll be able to provide for her and her son is for her to leave her little boy and cross the border and make a living here and send money back to her little boy living with his grandma.
then we watched another documentary on little kids who catch trains,and travel by themselves and try to make it into the states. one little girl they highlighted was from Honduras. all her family was in new york and she decided that it was her turn to cross. but she got caught on the border and was forced back.
families are getting torn apart for the sake of trying to provide a better future for their kids. it's not like these people risk everything they have to come and live here for free.
i honestly think that if an illegal immigrant comes here, works, pays taxes, tries to be a positive member of society, wants to help their kids get higher education, and follow the laws, there should be some way of helping them become legal.
however, if they come here and abuse the system and get into trouble, then they don't deserve to be here.
in the LDS church, we are all about helping others.
ya?
ya.
then why is this man, who is an avid member of the LDS church wanting to kick all the hundreds of thousands of people who only came here to better their lives out??
it seems a little ridiculous and "unchirst like" if you ask me.
on a monetary perspective, spending so much money on building a fence across the southern border is absoultly the worst way to spend our money. the northern border is twice as long with only 1% of the entire thing secured. where did the terrorists that caused 9/11 come in through??
the canadian border.
also, things like the DREAM act, deserve to be passed. it's not fair to jeopardize kids who were brought here BY THEIR parents. this is just as much their country as anyone else's. if they want to further their education, they should be allowed to do so.
coming from a family who clearly had someone immigrate, education is stressed like non-other. if i wasn't allowed to continue my education because something my parent's did to better my life, i would be crushed.
Mitt Romney is a selfish douche.
the end.
I'm taking an immigration law class right now, so it's interesting to hear your thoughts and perspective. If I've learned one thing about immigration, it's that it is very complicated, and there are legitimate concerns on all sides of the issues. And that means there is not one right answer either. It's a tough issue.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great you're doing research. This country would be so much better if every 18 year old took an interest and actually voted. But that's a whole other issue.
Can I point out a few things I've learned? First, illegal immigrants do not pay taxes, and that's one of the big problems--especially for education. Children within our borders, even illegal children, have a right to be educated in our schools. But if you have a lot of illegal children here, or kids who were born here but their parents are illegal, their parents don't pay taxes, and so you end up with a lot of very poor schools that struggle because they have too many students and not enough parents paying taxes. Even if illegals wanted to pay taxes to contribute, they have no obligation to, and if they did, they could be deported, so why would they? Also, most of them do not make enough money initially (and maybe ever) to have to pay taxes anyway.
Also, your point about if they come here and follow the laws, they should be able to stay. That's a tough one too, because they've already broken laws by coming illegally. And unfortunately we can't just open our borders up to everyone who wants to come and better their life. It would result in chaos. Amnesty for those already here would allow us to start over... or would it just create more incentive for people to come over illegally with the hope that they will one day get amnesty too? I don't know.
I do think that we do need to help people who sincerely want to better their life, and that there needs to be a better system. Right now, to come over legally, can take 20+ years, depending on what country you come from and why you want to come. There are people who did their paperwork in the 1980s who are just now able to come over. So it's easy for us to say "Just go back home and come here legally," but they know that isn't really an option. Most illegal immigrants are bound and determined to get here one way or another, and their situations are usually quite tragic. So I agree that something needs to be done. The system needs to change. It's just not an easy task to accomplish, and no one has the right answer because there may not be a right answer.
Also, here's some more food for thought: Mitt Romney's grandfather was an immigrant from Mexico. And his wife's father was an immigrant from Wales. You may not agree with his solution to the problem, but you can hardly argue that he is anti-immigration. Also, he is one of the only candidates who actually does not want to just round up all illegals and kick them out. His plan is more about self-deportation. You can read about it here: http://www.mittromney.com/issues/immigration
But I do know he is against the DREAM act, which I think is a good idea, particularly because it requires that immigrants get a college degree or serve in the military.
Anyway, sorry, couldn't help myself. That's what you get when you know a law student taking an immigration law class! I love to talk about this stuff. :) Hey, here's an idea... maybe you should go into politics. Then you could really make your ideas heard and effect change!