Agreed on both points.
Speaking for myself, I'm certainly appreciative of a naturalized citizen making their home here. It's a great compliment, and a challenge to every citizen to be worthy of that compliment.
More than once my wife and I found ourselves walking by the Masonic Auditorium on Calif. street in San Francisco on the Tuesday per month they have swearing-in of new citizens. Some had tears in their eyes and practically hugged you if you struck up a welcoming conversation. These are people you feel kinship with, trust to be part of one's community, and for whom you would do anything to justify their unvarnished faith in this country. It's a great experience, I recommend it to anyone wondering about immigration policies.
The contrast with illegales on a vineyard I worked in high school is that even tho' some became friends, the whole situation stank. They live in a parallel illegal and furtive community, unable (and therefore unwilling) to make a contribution to the society other than labor, sending money back home, avoiding any public activities, being forced to use charity and free medical care. And that's completely aside from the criminal element and Mexican Mafia that thrives in this underground environment.
It's a sick environment, only benefitting the employers of cheap labor, who are allowed by ignorance and corruption of the political process to further exploit it with a small tithe to the local Congressman, or larger ones to the administration. |
