resurrectionsong

September 25, 2003

Nice Little Slant...

A New York Times article is titled thus: "Immigrants' Rights Drive Starts." What it fails to mention until the seventh paragraph is that this is really an illegal immigrant's rights drive. And, yes, that is meaningful.

Ninety immigrants and supporters left their buses and marched outside the Roman Catholic cathedral here today, carrying foot-high crosses to commemorate people from south of the border who died in the desert as they sought a better life in the United States.

At St. Augustine Cathedral, the immigrants were greeted by more than 400 parishioners, students and others who marched alongside them and joined in singing, "We Shall Overcome."

As much as I might feel for those who tried to cross the border and died, the fault is not with our border patrol, but with the individuals who undertook the risky trip and with those who transported them. Of course, the activists are framing the ride in an old civil rights context to give it just the right emotional charge.

"Then, as now, let the freedom buses roll," the Rev. John M. Fife, pastor of the Southside Presbyterian Church, said in the eucharistic celebration at the cathedral. "Then, as now, vigilantes terrorized and discriminated with guns. Then, as now, there is a moral and ethical issue that must unite church and synagogue and mosque and labor and civil rights and mainstream America in a movement to change the course of history."

No, this isn't a civil rights march, folks. No matter where you stand on how open our immigration policy should be, we do have the reasonable expectation that our government will control the flow of immigrants from other countries into the United States.

In fact, our borders are too leaky. In the wake of 9/11, I would want there to be a heightened sense of security and a lower tolerance for the crime of illegally entering the United States.

Immigration policy is open for discussion, of course, but making the United States safe for illegal immigration isn't going to help either our security interests or the acceptance of immigrants in a general sense.

Read the story.

Posted by zombyboy at September 25, 2003 01:15 AM | TrackBack

Comments

I totally agree. Watched the CA debate this morn. Pisses me off how the candidates (except for Arnold) kept talking about free this and free that for illegals. Excuse me, but since when is ANYTHING free....I get so tired of politico's believing that money grows on trees.

I think everyone aught to get their actual salary and then have to pay out of it. People would be shocked to find out how much the gov't is screwing them...and screwing them they are right in the same vicinity as your back pocket.

As far as illegals crossing our borders and dying in the process, that is not the fault of the U.S., it's the fault of the runners that they are paying, you'd think after a while, that the Mexicans would wise up to the fact that they are being conned by their own countryman.

Posted by: Laura at September 25, 2003 01:51 AM

Think any INS agents will arrest these protesters? I doubt it.

Posted by: Sean Hackbarth at September 26, 2003 02:10 AM