Immigrants

I'm sitting here watching the television , CBS Morning News, regarding this issue. 

  According to the report, crime is, far from climbing, actually going down in border towns.  Illegal immigration is declining, not rising.

Given these statistics, I have to ask myself the following questions:

1.  Is this a 'faux' issue that the opposition party is throwing out  to keep us from remembering that the near meltdown with this country's economy was brought about by THEIR party's policies which ran rough shod over the working people?
     One of the lessons that I learned while working in the prison was that if a fight breaks out across the room, don't look at it.  Look at other surrounding areas, because chances are that's where the real crooked business is taking place.  So, is immigration serving the purpose that, I believe, the gay marriage issue served in the last election? 

2.  Is this  really a thinly cloaked racial issue?  I remember once when Michael Moore was doing some sort of documentary, and he was on the Canadian /U.S. border  The man  was running back and forth across the border like a nut, making the point that there were no volunteer border guards stopping Canadians from crossing the border.

3.  Isn't this immigration law a fairly new law?  I seem to remember that, formerly,   all an individual  had to do was to prove they either had a marketable  skill or enough money to ensure that they would not become a burden to society.  Why is it different now?

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4.  I have to ask myself is what is the responsibility of the Mexican government in all this mess?  The poverty in that country is so terrible that people are risking their lives, their children's lives, by placing themselves into the clutches of predatory individuals  who take their money and promise to get them across the border. People  are walking hundreds of miles across deserts to make a better life for themselves.  And yet, the upper classes of Mexico seem to be making it all right. Things are going so well that  Mexico is the new escape place for United States' retirees.  Why are the poor people living in such squalor in that country?  Don't we buy oil from Mexico?  Are we not , allegedly, friendly neighbors?  Why is the Mexican administration not being held accountable for the humanitarian issues within their country?  We sure point fingers at China, at Afghanistan.  Why not Mexico?  Could it be for the same reason that we never hear anything about Saudi Arabia and their anti-woman issues?  Oil, Perhaps? 

 I think we need to remember that this country is, with the exception of indigenous peoples ,  populated by immigrants.  The Central and South American people, when you get right down to it are direct descendants of the original inhabitants. Who, truly, are the interlopers?  OK, this country is over two hundred years old.  Still and all, two hundred years is, relatively speaking, pretty recent. 

Truly, I empathize with people who are concerned with this issue.  However,  when we deport people, we may, very well, be sending them to their deaths, either through starvation or actions by their governments.   I am reminded of the boatload of Jews who came to this country prior to World War II.They were seeking asylum.    President Roosevelt sent them back to Europe where they, mostly, died in the camps.  We put people into space, for crying out loud.  Is there not a way we can make this process fair, humanitarian and still protect our borders?