This is a good thread but it has nothing to do with illegal immigration. It's about ethics, about a moral dilemma I'll try to sum up below:
It's easy to join a Message Board and start demonizing illegal immigrants through inflated statistics and hateful rhetoric:
"The US has 20 million illegals!!" (grossly exaggerated number)
"Illegal aliens are the spawn of Satan, hardcore criminals who are responsible for most of America's problems" (hateful rethoric... open, democratic societies consider illegal immigration a simple misdemeanor).
"I have it on good authority that they kidnap children and eat them alive during satanic rituals of cannibalism!!"
blah, blah, blah...
But what should you do when an illegal immigrant becomes your personal friend, in other words, when the hateful rhetoric is replaced by reality and you realise that most illegals are just ordinary people like yourself who just happened to have committed a misdemeanor crossing an imaginary line on a map seeking a better life?
This thread explores a fascinating ethical conundrum but it has nothing to do with illegal immigration.
America would be in paradise if her real immigration problem had anything to do with good-hearted american citizens like hjmick, Mr. Clean, Grace, High Gravity, Ghook being torn between turning illegals in, giving them good advice, and many other courses of action available to them after discovering that the unbelievable, frightening demonisation of illegal immigrants that we currenty see in America has nothing to do with the individuals that are in front of them and have become their friends.
America's real immigration problem is the US government showing the same hesitation about enforcing the laws of the land. Anyone who has ever seen a bunch of illegal Mexicans being picked up by contractors in broad daylight already knows that the US government does not lack information about illegals (not exactly a state secret).
The country does not need information about illegals from its citizens... It needs strong political will from its leaders.
It's easy to join a Message Board and start demonizing illegal immigrants through inflated statistics and hateful rhetoric:
"The US has 20 million illegals!!" (grossly exaggerated number)
"Illegal aliens are the spawn of Satan, hardcore criminals who are responsible for most of America's problems" (hateful rethoric... open, democratic societies consider illegal immigration a simple misdemeanor).
"I have it on good authority that they kidnap children and eat them alive during satanic rituals of cannibalism!!"
blah, blah, blah...
But what should you do when an illegal immigrant becomes your personal friend, in other words, when the hateful rhetoric is replaced by reality and you realise that most illegals are just ordinary people like yourself who just happened to have committed a misdemeanor crossing an imaginary line on a map seeking a better life?
This thread explores a fascinating ethical conundrum but it has nothing to do with illegal immigration.
America would be in paradise if her real immigration problem had anything to do with good-hearted american citizens like hjmick, Mr. Clean, Grace, High Gravity, Ghook being torn between turning illegals in, giving them good advice, and many other courses of action available to them after discovering that the unbelievable, frightening demonisation of illegal immigrants that we currenty see in America has nothing to do with the individuals that are in front of them and have become their friends.
America's real immigration problem is the US government showing the same hesitation about enforcing the laws of the land. Anyone who has ever seen a bunch of illegal Mexicans being picked up by contractors in broad daylight already knows that the US government does not lack information about illegals (not exactly a state secret).
The country does not need information about illegals from its citizens... It needs strong political will from its leaders.
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