I love immigrants

[HEyHEY]

So there.
I see a guy from another country working at a job to make a better life for himself, I think, "That's nice to see."

Hell, my family came over from Northern Ireland and Scotland to carve out better lives for themselves (Well, I think the Scottish side ran off cause someone got knocked-up). So, the way I see it, who the fuck am I to sit there and complain about immigrants? After all, the first illegal immigrants were white people. But, as usual, whitey has no comprehension of that...

"POOR ME, POOR ME!" Cries the middle class.

They get mad because some guy who grew up in a shack with a dirt floor in Latin America comes to the US illegally.

I ask, what would YOU do? Keep living in that dirt shack hoping you don't die of some curable disease until you can move to the US legally? Or say, "fuck it, at least being poor in the US isn't as bad as being poor here," And take off?

Then more cries about "handouts" they get... yeah, more BS. Frankly with all the advantages I have just being BORN here, I really don't care if some of my tax dollars go to help an immigrant get an education, after all it's all better for the nation in the end.

There, I vented.

[Erika]

1. The fallacy is that we no longer have a middle class

Those jobs have been outsourced.

[HEyHEY]

2. We have a middle class

It's dissapearing, I'll give you that, but you can't deny there is one.

[enigmatic]

3. Thanks, man

When I become a citizen of Canada, I'll do you proud!;)

[HEyHEY]

5. I meant immigrants to the USA. I don't want "those people" in Canada

[enigmatic]

7. But i just bought new Curling shoes!

What the hell am I supposed to do with them now?

[HEyHEY]

9. put em on and start walking south

Ya fucking wetback!

[enigmatic]

13. But who will do the jobs I do that Canadians won't?

Making 5000 double-doubles a day at Tim Hortons; hell, I stole a winning roll up to win cup to pay for my coffee addiction that's ruining my life, you xenophobe!

[HEyHEY]

14. Destroying Timmy's is my dream

Fuck I hate that place.

[Vexatious Ape]

8. Love that pic

of Buk. Where did you get it?

[enigmatic]

16. I can't remember, honestly

I've had it on my HDD for awhile; Buk has been my hero foe a long, long time..

[chrisfloyd]

4. I agree

And throwing people in jail and charging them with a felony is most likely so they can fill the concentration camps the farmed out to "GUESS WHO" Halliburton for $400 million. I think they want to pen them in and make them work for nickels. Sound familiar?


Homeland Security To Build Detention Camps In The United States

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 2006--KBR announced today that the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) component has awarded KBR an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contingency contract to support ICE facilities in the event of an emergency. KBR is the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL).

With a maximum total value of $385 million over a five-year term, consisting of a one-year based period and four one-year options, the competitively awarded contract will be executed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District. KBR held the previous ICE contract from 2000 through 2005.

"We are especially gratified to be awarded this contract because it builds on our extremely strong track record in the arena of emergency operations support," said Bruce Stanski, executive vice president, KBR Government and Infrastructure. "We look forward to continuing the good work we have been doing to support our customer whenever and wherever we are needed."

The contract, which is effective immediately, provides for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs. The contingency support contract provides for planning and, if required, initiation of specific engineering, construction and logistics support tasks to establish, operate and maintain one or more expansion facilities.

SNIP

http://robwire.com/?q=node/894

[RagingInMiami]

10. The people have already risen

They won't stand for it. But I'm sure the feds will go ahead and try to place them in the camps anyway. And that is when the fighting really starts. That is when the bloodshed begins.

[chrisfloyd]

33. These words are a little scary.

Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity

[Peter Frank]

23. And Don't Anyone Think That the Mil/Ind gearing up of detention centers..

...is designed to effect only aliens. In the end, there would be plenty of beds made available for those who violate the P-Act.

[Brigid]

25. Good Point

Something to think about . . .

[suffragette]

6. You vent, I recommend

Nicely said, HEyHEY

[HEyHEY]

11. Thanks!

[suffragette]

24. If my grandfather hadn't decided to come down here

after generations of the family being up there, I'd be a fellow Canadian (or I wouldn't exist since my father and mother wouldn't have met). So, from one almost Canadian to another :toast:

[HEyHEY]

32. Hey, it can get cold up here. I don't blame him for leaving

[suffragette]

35. Especially in Quebec

One of these days I hope to go there to walk the streets he and they walked. I'll be sure to bring a warm coat :-)

[Heidi]

12. Thanks, HEyHEY.

Kicked and nominated. :thumbsup:

[enigmatic]

15. seriously though

Being an immigrant up here and watching what's going on down in the US is very, very surreal; it gives perspective...

And yeah, you are right, too:)

[Heidi]

17. Same here.

Being an immigrant in Switzerland is a _whole_ different ballgame than being an immigrant in the US. Unbelievable.

:hi:

[enigmatic]

20. yep

and it's time for me to go :hug:

[HEyHEY]

19. I find it amazing that Canadians view the issue so much differently

Yeah, you get your redneck types, they're everywhere. But Canada is one of the few countries that sells itself to immigrants on the ideal of "Come here, keep your culture and live better."
We don't pressure immigrants to be like us, we don't make stupid laws to hamper their efforts for a better life... and when it came out big companies were flying Mexicans in to pick fruit in Ontario the first big outcry from everyone was "Are they getting proper medical coverage and living quarters?"

I dunno, maybe it's cause we spend so much time hating each other (English and french) that we just don't care about the others.

[Brigid]

22. Hmmm . . .

Would Canada care to take in a disgruntled American?

[msgadget]

26. All of us here in America aren't heathens

who hate immigrants or who don't care how well they're treated. In fact I worry that they're currently being used as political pawns. likely to be forgotten until the next election cycle. The guest worker process will be cumbersome to oversee and the number for yearly guest workers must've been pulled from the air considering there are already 11 - 12 million undocumented workers at the disposal of anyone who wants to pay them less than they're worth.

[enigmatic]

29. It really is miles apart from the US in that regard

At least the US of the last 50 years or so. I've never had a bad word said against me since I've been up here, even though I'm from the US and am working here. And the owner of the hotel is from Pakistan who came here 15 years ago and is now a citizen; he's told me more than once he'd do anything to help my own immigration any anything else involving the proccess. I was really touched by that; I still don't know what to say.

I love Canada; truly, madly, deeply. Thank for accepting me, too.

[msgadget]

18. Good for you. We are a nation of immigrants, aren't we?

I don't begrudge any person seeking a better life but I wonder why the marches I've seen these past two weeks weren't - for the Mexicans and South Americans in the crowds - against NAFTA & the FTAA and for the right to earn a decent wage in their homelands. Their marching enables those who misuse labor and the resources of underdeveloped nations. But, I see where you're comin' from and can't fault you your magnanimity .

[HEyHEY]

21. I think it has to do with the machine guns

Try holding a rally for Government reform in some of those nations, and see what happens. Granted it's getting better, but still.... ack ack ack

[msgadget]

28. LOL! That's for sure,

but I meant the marches HERE. Obviously they're safe asking for their rights here especially since they've got press attention. This is the perfect time to ask for what they deserve. Right now they're marching for the right to stay here as Americans while earning less than the average American needs to live on. What about those they've left behind?

[HEyHEY]

30. Yeah, it would be a good venure for them

To go to the head offices of the very companies that run scummy operations in their own nations and let it be known to all what they are up to.

Hey, maybe it'll happen.

[chrisfloyd]

31. Secondly who could disseminate NAFTA

In those countries? The media? The government. Illiteracy, desperate poverty - a lot of these people care more about eating then pouring over 10,000 pages of NAFTA documents. They were probably told they were going to get jobs out of it all.

[msgadget]

34. Good point and I considered that

but these marches are very organized and there are MANY advocates for the undocumented who DO know. I don't think they serve their flock well when they take half measures. These people deserve more, much more. (child of an immigrant here, btw).

[Ms. Clio]

36. Because most of the marchers are CITIZENS

I don't mean to direct a blast at you, personally, but I am so baffled by this perception people seem to have that millions of "illegal immigrants" are marching ominously through our streets, demanding our jobs and our schools and our health care and our pure white women.

In fact, they are marching primarily to protect their families from being torn asunder by the Republican proposal to deport as many as 12 million relatives and friends. Does anybody actually know what the protesters are saying?

"Gustavo Jiminez, 16, conceived the rally Sunday morning while browsing the popular Web site. He saw a California girl's posting about legislation to make it a felony to enter the country illegally or to help illegal immigrants.

"They're making my family – making immigrants – look like criminals," the Duncanville High School junior said. "They're putting us down as a statistic, as a number. We're not a number; we're here to help."

Many Mexican Americans are all too familiar with the the historical precedents, such as the forced repatriations of the 1930s and "Operation Wetback" in the mid-1950s.

Those were shameful periods in U.S. history. I find it stunning that so many so called "liberals" would advocate reliving them.

[Brigid]

38. Balance

This may sound naive, but there has got to be a way to balance the needs of families to stay together with our right to secure our own borders and enforce our own immigration laws.

[msgadget]

39. Oh, I get it

I even know the history. I just think we can all work for better labor rights together if they marched against what caused them to have to migrate from their homeland. I'd hate to have to leave here to earn my bread because my government ignored my needs and I don't accept it as 'okay' for my brothers and sisters from poor regions to have to do so. It's not right. Being empathetic doesn't help, doesn't solve the root cause and until that gets the same amount of attention, the same numbers in the streets we'll be repeating this ad infinitum...or until Canada, the U.S. and Mexico actually form one big North Americas as has been rumored. And, in that case, why's the government misleading us with 'immigration reform' when there may be NO borders sometime around 2010 anyway.

Edit to add :) because I'm not mad at you!

[Vektor]

27. My grandparents were immigrants.

So were the grandparents of many protesting immigrants today. So many forget where they came from. I understand there are two sides to the immigration issue, and I accept that, but think it's important for anyone entering this debate to remember how many Americans came from immigrant stock - and not too many generations removed, either.

I also have no problem paying taxes that go toward a better good for all people. I'm ok with that.

[EFerrari]

37. What, you ran out of duct tape?

:)

:toast:

[xchrom]

40. i just want to echo your sentiments.

[Kurovski]

41. Hey, I was just thinking similar thoughts tonight

I've worked along side many people from Iran, Mexico, Haiti, and Ecuador. I love them, too. I have many memories of them, and I was the same as they in that I too was reaching for a better life.

But HEyHEY, I dunno about them Canadians...;-)

[NNN0LHI]

42. I also love immigrants

And it does not bother me to say it.

My mother is Italian and her parents were immigrants. My father is French Canadian so ditto there.

I would much rather have my tax dollars going for immigrants here than for bombs to kill Iraqis over there.

Don

[Gregorian]

43. But they're ALL going to move here! Aren't they?

And they're all going to steal my job. Not. Not even close. Borders are fake lines. And that's what people need to realize. Take a look at Mexico. It used to be a third of the US. So in reality, WE are the illegal immigrants.


I love your post. I want to think and post my own thoughts. But another day encroaches upon my life.

I'm just so glad to see people who actually care about other people. Thanks to all of you. Because someday, I may have to leave this country. And I would not want to encounter razer wire at every possible exit.