Immigration "reform"

Listening to Republicans discuss immigration reform makes my brain hurt. Mexicans bring drugs, prostitution, and torture by coming across the border?! REALLY?! People DO NOT flee their countries through dangerous, possibly deadly conditions just to pop across the border for vacation. They go because they would rather RISK DEATH than continue to live under the conditions they are in. I think it's important for people to remember that unless you are 100% Native American, *our* ancestors all came to the United States by - wait for it - leaving some sort of oppressive conditions in their country of birth! Whether it was unjust taxation, unemployment, or ravages of war....we ALL came from immigrants! We are a nation FOUNDED by immigrants.

So the real question is: what type of people get on the boat (so to speak) then pull up the remaining entryways, shove off shore, & wave back saying "too bad for you - suckers!" Certainly not the type of people I want to associate with.

I'm 3rd/4th generation American depending on which family member you look at. My ancestors left Hungary & Germany to make a better life for their children because the conditions they were living in were unfavourable. Their journey was not much different than immigrants of today...family was separated & people were left behind, & those who came here struggled to build a new life. I'm proud of my heritage & don't forget for a *second* that if the types of immigration "reform" being discussed today was on the table last century, I would probably be a peasant farmer instead of a social worker.

We live in a country with more abundance than virtually ALL of the rest of the countries in the world yet we are instituting some of the most penalizing policies for citizens & non citizens alike. We, as a nation, supposedly fight against global tyranny & yet we are perpetrators ourselves. Take a look back through *your* heritage & think about where you would be if *your* ancestor didn't emigrate here. And shame on anyone who would deny that right to others.

Immigrants are not a danger to "our way of life". In the United States, immigration IS the way of life! The danger comes in locking down borders & refusing to give aide to those who need it. Do you know what other countries did that? Let's see....North Korea, communist Russia,  & myriad other oppressive regimes. That's the road we're headed on as we slowly & systematically strip away the rights of citizens (women's rights infringements anyone? punitive social welfare policies?) & lock down our borders. 

We may be on the verge of the first generation where people LEAVE the United States to find a better life.