Protest This

Yesterday evening, while I sat with a small group of friends, we took a break from our usual joking to discuss something important.  The main topic was illegal immigration.  I became so engaged in what grew to become a debate, that my coffee was stone cold when I finally remembered I was holding a mug.

"What," you might ask, "could get someone like our dear Raquel so worked up?"

I'll tell you what had me so worked up that I neglected my ambrosia-like mug of coffee: "El dia sin immigrantes."  Better known to most of us as May 1st's "day without immigrants" protest.  My argument makes me sound like a hardass, and even I admit that it's harsher than most of what I say, but I feel that my words are reasonable.

I normally have a very common-sense, very liberal approach to political issues, as any of my previous posts may attest.  I suppose that's yet another reason my argument sounds so…  bitchy.  Here's the run-down:

So you, a hypothetical illegal immigrant, want to live in the U.S.A.. Fine. Fantastic.

You have a job. Even better.

You don't like what the government is doing and you wish to protest? Too fucking bad. You want us to give you the right to vote? Again, too fucking bad. You're not a legal citizen of this country, and therefore have no right to protest. If you don't like my government's stance on illegal immigration, why don't you just stroll your happy ass back across that goddamn border?

I understand that not everyone participating in May 1st's nation-wide boycott is an illegal immigrant. Fine. As long as you're a legal immigrant, I don't care what you protest or how you do it, so long as it's a peaceful demonstration. In fact, I generally applaude people for expressing their vehement feelings and opinions, even if I don't agree with their views. Part of being an American is being allowed to express your views without fear of government prosecutuion.

Now I'll be the first to admit that the living conditions in many other countries are far worse than what we have over here. I've been to several border towns on the U.S.A.-Mexico border and I know that if I were from one of those towns, my ass would be trying to jump that fence, too. However, I would not participate in this sort of demonstration. What I find funny is that, technically, those who are taking part in the demonstration and are illegal immigrants can be taken into authoritative custody for protesting. They're not legal citizens, and therefore are not under the protection of the first Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

Moreover, this boycott may have immediate results, but I can promise you that a sustained boycott wouldn't do anything other than exploit one of America's greatest characteristics. The United States of America is nothing if not an adaptive nation. We assimilate and influence cultures. We can and have mobilized for war overnight. We can go from being a backwater nation to a world power. We can go from being an intesive-agricultural society to an industrial society in the blink of an eye. I can promise you that if thousands of illegal immigrants forever swore off their jobs to "observe the economic impact and attempt to prove that the U.S. cannot function without them," then thousands of job openings will fill up rather quickly. Either jobless legal citizens (and there are many of us) will be hired for the jobs, or new efficiency measures will be put into place. So go ahead. Boycott. I dare you. We are not so stagnant a nation that we cannot do without illegal immigrants.

At any rate, I'm pissed off. Sure, the illegal immigrants do jobs the rest of us avoid. I've said that before, and I'll say it again. And do I think it should be easier for people to immigrate and become legal citizens of our country? Of course! Hell, the United States of America was built by immigrants! But don't you dare slip across a border and then assume my government and I owe you a damn thing. My family has not served this country for almost a full century now, only to help shoulder the burden of illegal immigrants. I don't see illegal immigrants stepping forward to serve this country. I don't see them paying taxes, even though many of them are allowed to take advantage of our Welfare system. And I don't see many of them learning English.

I invite Mexicans, Cubans, Russians, Chinese, and all other foreigners to become legal immigrants, if they so choose. And you know what? If taking the first step to a happy life is to live as an illegal immigrant, I'll not stand in your way. However, you should do so knowing that I invite only legal immigrants to enjoy the priviledge of the rights to vote and to protest.

So to those of you who are illegal immigrants and have participated in these demonstrations, I have just five words for you: Protest THIS. I dare you.