I was a ward of the state as a child. I got 0 help beyond fostercare

I consider myself a conservative republican yet I don't like the way Perry is treated on the Mexican child issue. It pisses me off to see others jump all over him for wanting to help children. Others say let them pay. Well let's not play stupid. If their parents are here against the law they can't afford a better life for them. We haven't secured the border so what are we to do with the kids?

I was a severely disadvantaged youth. I went from juvenile prison to group homes to foster care to ultimately winding up in adult prison in Hutchinson State Penitentiary at the age of 17. 3 years of my life was wasted because at a young age no one took an interest and gave me some proper direction.
I was far worse than anything most of you can imagine and much worse than most Mexican youths. It's a shame that the attention and direction I needed as a youth could only be delivered by a penal institution.
We don't have to subject the next group of children to that scenario. Most, if not all of you, have no idea how hard it can be when your parents are completely fucked up. WHY SUBJECT ANY HUMAN CHILD TO ANY UNDUE PUNISHMENT BECAUSE OF THEIR PARENTS.

I got out of prison at nearly the age of 21. I applied for student loans and was denied, time after time. If anyone needed a leg up I did. So don't give me that bs line about Americans first. It's money first, and because I was a risk I wasn't worth it. Well I'm here to tell you I wasn't a risk. I was a misguided left behind child that needed a break and I didn't find it.

Obviously I ultimately made it. But it wasn't because I was American. It was because I struggled and worked my ass off to goto school and work and learn several trades. No child should be subjected to the bullshit our govt puts them through when their parents aren't responsible.

I'm a firm believer in locking down the boarders. In fact maybe more than most because my business is often undercut by immigrants. That being said, they aren't the children taking my jobs. It's uncle Sam taking my job through his incompetence.

Don't punish the kids for the mistakes of the parents. And don't give me that magnet shit either. Deal with the border properly and the issue will solve itself. Otherwise were just shooting ourselves in the foot if we don't help the children.



Ps. I said way more than I wanted to but I felt it was needed to give context. And if you only come in here to be partisan about the issue...... Fuck you

I don't see much personal responsibility in your post. As a 17 year old, didn't you make your own decisions?

Isn't that a core value of conservatives?

I deserved what I got for what I did. And contrary to your assumption I am a much different person today because of my trials. My only point was that as a "small" child I missed out on many things that put me on the wrong path to begin with. That is what is happening to many young mexicans whos parents are dodging the law and thereby their children miss many opportunities they would otherwise have.
 
I consider myself a conservative republican yet I don't like the way Perry is treated on the Mexican child issue. It pisses me off to see others jump all over him for wanting to help children. Others say let them pay. Well let's not play stupid. If their parents are here against the law they can't afford a better life for them. We haven't secured the border so what are we to do with the kids?

I was a severely disadvantaged youth. I went from juvenile prison to group homes to foster care to ultimately winding up in adult prison in Hutchinson State Penitentiary at the age of 17. 3 years of my life was wasted because at a young age no one took an interest and gave me some proper direction.
I was far worse than anything most of you can imagine and much worse than most Mexican youths. It's a shame that the attention and direction I needed as a youth could only be delivered by a penal institution.
We don't have to subject the next group of children to that scenario. Most, if not all of you, have no idea how hard it can be when your parents are completely fucked up. WHY SUBJECT ANY HUMAN CHILD TO ANY UNDUE PUNISHMENT BECAUSE OF THEIR PARENTS.

I got out of prison at nearly the age of 21. I applied for student loans and was denied, time after time. If anyone needed a leg up I did. So don't give me that bs line about Americans first. It's money first, and because I was a risk I wasn't worth it. Well I'm here to tell you I wasn't a risk. I was a misguided left behind child that needed a break and I didn't find it.

Obviously I ultimately made it. But it wasn't because I was American. It was because I struggled and worked my ass off to goto school and work and learn several trades. No child should be subjected to the bullshit our govt puts them through when their parents aren't responsible.

I'm a firm believer in locking down the boarders. In fact maybe more than most because my business is often undercut by immigrants. That being said, they aren't the children taking my jobs. It's uncle Sam taking my job through his incompetence.

Don't punish the kids for the mistakes of the parents. And don't give me that magnet shit either. Deal with the border properly and the issue will solve itself. Otherwise were just shooting ourselves in the foot if we don't help the children.



Ps. I said way more than I wanted to but I felt it was needed to give context. And if you only come in here to be partisan about the issue...... Fuck you

Can I first say that I agree with what you have said about what we should do as a society. Thank you for posting your story.

Now can you tell me why you vehemantly support a party that disagrees with you totally... particularly on something which appears to be a core value.

There are issues much more important than this to me. I dont feel like 100% agreement is required to feel that one party is better than the other. Besides the entire party is not in lock step on this issue. There are divisions in both parties and their is nothing wrong with that. Diversity is a good thing.

And to the poster above you, I dont believe I expressed that I was upset that I didnt catch any breaks. In fact if I had it all to do over again I wouldnt change much because thats what ultimately led me to where I am today. Im happy with my life.

Fair enough. I have my priority issues, too. It just seems to me that your party isn't a place for anyone with any generosity of spirit right now.
 
My experience with fostercare was not exploitation. The only thing that caused me concern was the first home. I was 7 and had never seen a black person cause we never left our small town until I was sent away. The first home was a LARGE black family and I was 1 of 2 white kids. It was a culture shock to say the least and I was terrified. Looking back on it I can appreciate what they did but at the time I was freaked out. Learning to live a different culture overnight was incredibly difficult. They did everything different. They had a sense of community as well and I had no idea how to assimilate. The food was strange to me also and I got in a fair amount of trouble over that issue. They themselves seemed relatively poor also but they handeled it differently. Many may laugh at my experience there but just try to imagine it as a sheltered youth.
My second home was the true disaster. They were a rich white couple that gave me everything I wanted. From one extreme to another! Problem was I had no sense of limit when I was there because dicipline was rare. That is when the petty theft and crimes started. Dunno why I went that direction I just did.
My third home was a large family in the country. I was one of many foster children. I think there were about 12 of us kids there and the dicipline was swift and severe. I remember running away several times and it all went downhill after that.

Anyways I guess my point was I dont pretend to know MB's motives for raising foster children and I give her major kudos for doing so. I think it would be a very tough job, especially with older children who already have developement and social problems. Most older children wind up in grouphome environments that are anything but healthy.

I give her kudos also. Not every foster home situation is a "loving family" with Betty Crocker cooking cookies. There have been no scandals from any of her 23 kids. That says something. In fact, it says a lot.

When I went into the service, I was in the 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery, 8th Infantry Division, and half the battalion was black. That means half my roommates were black. Growing up, I knew one black family that moved into our community when I was in high school. I didn't even know both my Republican parents hated black people until then.

I could never belong to a party with some many people who are anti American. They hate gays and blacks and Hispanics and Muslims and atheists. The list goes on. They can deny it, but the proof is in the pudding.

I am a member of that party Dean and I am none of those things. You can not effect change from the outside but rather from within.

If you can change it, good luck. When I was a kid, all the conservatives in the deep south moved from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party because they hated the blacks. Then, it was called the "Party of Ideas". Eisenhower was the president when "science" became the "theme".
Now, calling out "Let him die", cheering executions, dissing gay soldiers, this fixation with the rich and the "Tea Birthers". Not to mention anti science, anti education, the lack of interest in rebuilding our nation, the embarrassing names and accusations directed at the president. I think of it as the party with the fringe on top. I think it has to hit bottom before the buffoons are left behind.
And the denial. I don't get that at all. When they cheer executions, the defense is, "It wasn't that many"? Any at all is too many. Who cheers people being executed. I'm for the death penalty, but I don't "promote" it and cheer it. It's a necessary evil, but evil it is.
 
Dean you kinda sound like someone who is still living in the political past. Like you can't let go of some things. Every party has issues and detractors. The challenge is to look beyond the bs to get to what really matters. While many of you are fixated on the side shows within the parties the politics of the day are passing you by.
 
However, no state has the "right to a college education" and to offer entitlements (such as in-state tuition and scholarships) not afforded to US citizens, is simply wrong and I don't see how anyone could defend it.

Undocumented children are residents of their respective states regardless of their immigration status, whether they’re citizens or not is immaterial. That was the premise in Plyler v Doe (1982), where the Court held that government agencies don’t have the authority to make a legal determination, how DHS designates an alien is Constitutionally irrelevant.

It's also well within the purview of the states to determine whom will receive in state tuition.

Undocumented aliens are therefore entitled to due process rights and a presumption of innocence, per Plyler. An undocumented alien is not a ‘criminal’ until such time as he is found guilty of entering the country illegally. To preempt due process by denying access to in state tuition is a violation of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, because no determination of guilt has been established in court.
 
I consider myself a conservative republican yet I don't like the way Perry is treated on the Mexican child issue. It pisses me off to see others jump all over him for wanting to help children. Others say let them pay. Well let's not play stupid. If their parents are here against the law they can't afford a better life for them. We haven't secured the border so what are we to do with the kids?
<SNIP>

i'm with you, and with Perry on this. His critics are just playing politics vos-a-vis "weak on national sovereignty and border security"

IMO he's vulnerable, because he sees it as a state's rights (Federalism) issue (which it is), but doesn't see RomneyCare as a federalism issue, which it is. That's the flaw in his position as I see it.
 
Dean you kinda sound like someone who is still living in the political past. Like you can't let go of some things. Every party has issues and detractors. The challenge is to look beyond the bs to get to what really matters. While many of you are fixated on the side shows within the parties the politics of the day are passing you by.

Passed me by?

How long ago was it that Republicans booed an American soldier in Iraq who said he was gay? Like "last night"?

The current, and by current, I mean "now", Republican Party Platform in Texas want's to make anyone who marries a gay a "felon". It's in the Republican Party State Platform. They don't want gays to have any child custody, and they want to reinstate laws against the gays. Worse, NOT A SINGLE CANDIDATE chastised the audience when some said, "Let him die" or when they cheered hundreds being executed or when they booed a gay soldier IN IRAQ, a conflict Republicans tricked America into.

And Republicans are calling Iraq a success. Women are no enslaved and forced to wear burkas. Remember, under Saddam, they could wear western clothes, run for office, be doctors, lawyers and college professors. All that's gone. They are now slaves. Bad as Saddam was, Republicans replaced him with worse. They turned Iraq into Iran, spelled out in the Iraqi constitution. And please don't say we let them have the government they wanted. The never invited us. They had the government they wanted. We took that away. There is no America Appreciation Day. Instead, they say "Death to America". Not exactly a "win".
 
I consider myself a conservative republican yet I don't like the way Perry is treated on the Mexican child issue. It pisses me off to see others jump all over him for wanting to help children. Others say let them pay. Well let's not play stupid. If their parents are here against the law they can't afford a better life for them. We haven't secured the border so what are we to do with the kids?

I was a severely disadvantaged youth. I went from juvenile prison to group homes to foster care to ultimately winding up in adult prison in Hutchinson State Penitentiary at the age of 17. 3 years of my life was wasted because at a young age no one took an interest and gave me some proper direction.
I was far worse than anything most of you can imagine and much worse than most Mexican youths. It's a shame that the attention and direction I needed as a youth could only be delivered by a penal institution.
We don't have to subject the next group of children to that scenario. Most, if not all of you, have no idea how hard it can be when your parents are completely fucked up. WHY SUBJECT ANY HUMAN CHILD TO ANY UNDUE PUNISHMENT BECAUSE OF THEIR PARENTS.

I got out of prison at nearly the age of 21. I applied for student loans and was denied, time after time. If anyone needed a leg up I did. So don't give me that bs line about Americans first. It's money first, and because I was a risk I wasn't worth it. Well I'm here to tell you I wasn't a risk. I was a misguided left behind child that needed a break and I didn't find it.

Obviously I ultimately made it. But it wasn't because I was American. It was because I struggled and worked my ass off to goto school and work and learn several trades. No child should be subjected to the bullshit our govt puts them through when their parents aren't responsible.

I'm a firm believer in locking down the boarders. In fact maybe more than most because my business is often undercut by immigrants. That being said, they aren't the children taking my jobs. It's uncle Sam taking my job through his incompetence.

Don't punish the kids for the mistakes of the parents. And don't give me that magnet shit either. Deal with the border properly and the issue will solve itself. Otherwise were just shooting ourselves in the foot if we don't help the children.



Ps. I said way more than I wanted to but I felt it was needed to give context. And if you only come in here to be partisan about the issue...... Fuck you



Excellent post.


IMO, if we toughen up enforcement against employers who hire illegally, so that the illegals can't get work, the border will enforce itself. They aren't coming here for our American way of life, they come here for work, and most of them, if given the opportunity between being unemployed in the U.S. and being with their family in Mexico would gladly go home.
 
A discount for school that most likely will be made back 10 fold through their contributions after graduation or would you prefer to keep them on the govt dole most of their lives?

I was lucky. Most people in my situation don't break free of the cycle of violence and criminal activity.

Since the students in question are here illegally and are not eligible to be legally hired, how is it you think they will contribute after graduation?

We have 2 choices. Deport everyone or go case by case and grant certain rights along with citizenship. Which do you see happening? I see the latter. We can't keep our heads in the sand forever. At some point our generosity will come back. Be it negative or positive. And that depends on what we do.

Bush's proposal was a perfectly sound plan and the defect in it was that it wasn't perfect. The left/Ds didn't want it even to be considered because it's their issue, and as long as they can divide America and own that issue they can hope to increase their voting base with a vital minority voting block.

The right/Rs sunk Bush because of those who couldn't give on the issue at all, as if the status quo wasn't/isn't a critical state of affairs, and they can afford to wait to get their perfect candidate. Of course they can't.

Perry at least understands the options, and the urgency, which is "Criticality-ONE". If we lose Texas the same way we've lost California, the Republican Party will never again elect a president, that spells Criticality One in my book.
 
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I consider myself a conservative republican yet I don't like the way Perry is treated on the Mexican child issue. It pisses me off to see others jump all over him for wanting to help children. Others say let them pay. Well let's not play stupid. If their parents are here against the law they can't afford a better life for them. We haven't secured the border so what are we to do with the kids?

I was a severely disadvantaged youth. I went from juvenile prison to group homes to foster care to ultimately winding up in adult prison in Hutchinson State Penitentiary at the age of 17. 3 years of my life was wasted because at a young age no one took an interest and gave me some proper direction.
I was far worse than anything most of you can imagine and much worse than most Mexican youths. It's a shame that the attention and direction I needed as a youth could only be delivered by a penal institution.
We don't have to subject the next group of children to that scenario. Most, if not all of you, have no idea how hard it can be when your parents are completely fucked up. WHY SUBJECT ANY HUMAN CHILD TO ANY UNDUE PUNISHMENT BECAUSE OF THEIR PARENTS.

I got out of prison at nearly the age of 21. I applied for student loans and was denied, time after time. If anyone needed a leg up I did. So don't give me that bs line about Americans first. It's money first, and because I was a risk I wasn't worth it. Well I'm here to tell you I wasn't a risk. I was a misguided left behind child that needed a break and I didn't find it.

Obviously I ultimately made it. But it wasn't because I was American. It was because I struggled and worked my ass off to goto school and work and learn several trades. No child should be subjected to the bullshit our govt puts them through when their parents aren't responsible.

I'm a firm believer in locking down the boarders. In fact maybe more than most because my business is often undercut by immigrants. That being said, they aren't the children taking my jobs. It's uncle Sam taking my job through his incompetence.

Don't punish the kids for the mistakes of the parents. And don't give me that magnet shit either. Deal with the border properly and the issue will solve itself. Otherwise were just shooting ourselves in the foot if we don't help the children.



Ps. I said way more than I wanted to but I felt it was needed to give context. And if you only come in here to be partisan about the issue...... Fuck you
just think ..does anyone on this board honestly believe this man would have overcome the obstacle's he overcame if he had a liberal mind set ?? hard work and determination and self reliance is what pulled him through !! .............not the damn nanny state !!

Some of us social liberals had a rough background and came thru fine.
One can be a social liberal and a fiscal conservative at the same time.
 
I consider myself a conservative republican yet I don't like the way Perry is treated on the Mexican child issue. It pisses me off to see others jump all over him for wanting to help children. Others say let them pay. Well let's not play stupid. If their parents are here against the law they can't afford a better life for them. We haven't secured the border so what are we to do with the kids?

I was a severely disadvantaged youth. I went from juvenile prison to group homes to foster care to ultimately winding up in adult prison in Hutchinson State Penitentiary at the age of 17. 3 years of my life was wasted because at a young age no one took an interest and gave me some proper direction.
I was far worse than anything most of you can imagine and much worse than most Mexican youths. It's a shame that the attention and direction I needed as a youth could only be delivered by a penal institution.
We don't have to subject the next group of children to that scenario. Most, if not all of you, have no idea how hard it can be when your parents are completely fucked up. WHY SUBJECT ANY HUMAN CHILD TO ANY UNDUE PUNISHMENT BECAUSE OF THEIR PARENTS.

I got out of prison at nearly the age of 21. I applied for student loans and was denied, time after time. If anyone needed a leg up I did. So don't give me that bs line about Americans first. It's money first, and because I was a risk I wasn't worth it. Well I'm here to tell you I wasn't a risk. I was a misguided left behind child that needed a break and I didn't find it.

Obviously I ultimately made it. But it wasn't because I was American. It was because I struggled and worked my ass off to goto school and work and learn several trades. No child should be subjected to the bullshit our govt puts them through when their parents aren't responsible.

I'm a firm believer in locking down the boarders. In fact maybe more than most because my business is often undercut by immigrants. That being said, they aren't the children taking my jobs. It's uncle Sam taking my job through his incompetence.

Don't punish the kids for the mistakes of the parents. And don't give me that magnet shit either. Deal with the border properly and the issue will solve itself. Otherwise were just shooting ourselves in the foot if we don't help the children.



Ps. I said way more than I wanted to but I felt it was needed to give context. And if you only come in here to be partisan about the issue...... Fuck you

WOW! Now THAT's a success story. Glad you finally made it. You are the one amongst the many who do not.

As to the border issue. What you need to understand is this: The government WANTS the illegal immigrants here. They are the new underclass (AKA slaves). This country has to have cheap labor. Slavery of the old south is out, and illegal immigration is in. If the government didn't WANT them here, they would be gone, or they would never have gotten in. I guess it takes someone from the south and a slave owning family to see the big picture here.
 
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I just wish all this hate would go away. Alas I know it won't but while were fixated on stupid shit our country breaking real problems go unattended. We get stuck arguing trivial crap that will neither solve our problem nor head us in the right direction. It's simple really.

Close the border by whatever means necessary.

Grant citizenship with limited rights on a case by case basis.

Problem solved.
 

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