I've been aware of the current border brouhaha, but haven't done a deep dive into it for a lot of reasons, mostly because the way it instinctively turns into a nativist "Keep those freeloading brown people out!" orgy of rhetoric makes me sick.
Are the kids showing up at the border really refugees?
“I had a body cut up in a plastic bag left on my doorstep as a warning” just may qualify as grounds to flee.
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"Keep those freeloading brown people out!" orgy of rhetoric makes me sick.
I don't know, I think you seem to be focusing on the "If You Aren't Behind Letting Folks Come Here Illegally, Then You're Racist" spin to these sort of tales.
Not that there aren't those saying that…..there are, but I think the majority (at least in a lot of my reading in my stream) are more in the camp of "Anyone Coming Here Illegally Shouldn't Be Allowed To Trump Those Wanting To Come Here Legally".
To be honest, if we had the same situation occurring from the North, I don't think you'd find the opinions differing that much.
Illegal is illegal.
+Mark Means I think there would certainly be some who would take that sort of approach ("illegal is illegal"), but I also suspect there would be a significant difference in both the attitudes and the priorities given to shutting out the "maple menace" from the North should that happen.
22% of illegal immigrants in the US are from Africa, Europe, Asia, and (yes) Canada. There was, in recent history, a substantial population of illegals from Ireland in the NE US (not the traditional "wetback" approach, but simply coming in as a "tourist" and never leaving). There's very little attention paid to them.
In this particular instance, it seems the issue is further complicated by the age range of so many, as well as (as the article notes) the refugee issues (vs "simple" economic hardship).
+Mark Means you are probably are correct that it isn't fair to categorize the entire conversation issues of minority/race. But you should see how the conversation looks from the other show. As Dave points out we get illegal immigrants from all over, suddenly we care about the Southern border? What about your heritage? Are you Native American Indian? If not chances are you may have had immigrants in your past whether legal or illegal.
And if, from your standpoint, the argument ONLY comes down to illegal vs. legal it seems a hypocritical stance for any of us to take. Do you ever speed? Have you ever jaywalked? Do you test your blood/alcohol level before every time you drive? The list of illegal things we might do without even taking pause can be quite large at times.
" As Dave points out we get illegal immigrants from all over, suddenly we care about the Southern border?"
Do we have somewhere else where upwards of 60,000 illegals have crossed the border since October? As I said in my original response, I (and I'm pretty positive many others) would be just as concerned if we had a "Maple Menace" (as Dave put it, quite originally) streaming over from the North.
I'm not sure what my heritage has to do with the article….I mean, besides setting up a straw man.
I can do the same thing…."How many of these illegals are you willing to put up in your home? How much are you willing to contribute to help ensure they can stay….illegally…in front of immigrants who are actually _following_ the law and coming to this country legally" ?
I'm not saying load them back into giant dock containers and drop them back off over the border, but some common sense also needs to be used here.
Trying to point out other cases where people might do "illegal" things, still doesn't make crossing the border illegally any less of a crime.
You can try to spin it anyway you like, the bottom line is they're still here illegally.
No spin, the point is to show you care about the illegality of this situation yet probably don't blink an eye in other situations.
I'm not really sure what you're going for here, +Jon Weber , but I'll leave you to your assumptions.