Mexican Mad Hatters

In Illegal Immigration Debate my fellow class mate outlines why she is in support of the Arizona Immigration Law. She is in favor of turning in anyone she suspects is an illegal immigrant and finds racial profiling acceptable and in my opinion infers not speaking english as suspicious behavior.

I agree with this writer that illegal immigration is a problem and that it is high time the U.S. takes action to resolve this issue but that is where our views diverge. Supporters of the Arizona Immigration Law justify this law because of fear of gang violence, drug runners and the criminals smuggling people over the boarder. But the key word here is criminals. There is no doubt that the horribly violent drug war between several Mexican cartels are spilling over into the U.S. . By March of 2010, 2000 people have been killed in drug related murders. But these criminals are a small percentage of people coming to our country. Most illegal immigrants come here to better their lives economically and their quality of life. Poverty, overpopulation, wars (including drug wars) are all motivators to escape to the U.S. and who can blame them? Isn’t this why most of our ancestors move to America? Considering that 22,700 people have been killed in drug related deaths since 2007, could these immigrants apply for political asylum?

But why is the violence happening here? As stated by Andrew Selee at the Washington Post, because the cartels are fighting over territory. Because the trafficking in Mexico is driven by U.S. consumption. Because somewhere between $18 billion to $39 billion goes into Mexico from the U.S. each year for those drugs. Because much of this money pays for high-caliber weapons purchased in the U.S. So, I dare say these are not the people wanting to mow your yards or bus your tables.

So what’s the solution? Not turning in someone because they speak spanish and are brown. Take a look at this video of street gangs fighting in a very affluent neighborhood in UpTown Chicago. To combat this violence this community has positive loitering nights. All the neighbors, and I mean ALL THE NEIGHBORS, hang out on the corners. They get to know one another, they are forging their community not by building walls but supporting each other. How could we help fight poverty and improve the quality of life in Mexico? How about paying fair wages? Many immigrants labor as migrant workers working for extremely low pay. How about assisting in the education? Join the NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Legalize and regulate drugs. Statistically fewer people drink now and have less access to alcohol now than during prohibition. There are many ways to resolve the immigration issue than just locking up anyone on your block that looks different. And one last Word from the Colbert Report.