Well, I definitely see them as people. ALL of my ancestors are from somewhere else. Aren't they all?
I hear you, and was not trying to accuse you of being colder than anybody else. I think the nature of much of today's political debate tends to dehumanize people.
So why are aliens entitled to everything that my ancestors came here for and worked so hard for? Why is it okay for them to be "johnnycomelatelys" and get everything that our whole heritage has been working so hard to obtain for over 200 years?
I have seen a fair number of 'illegals', and I can say that I have not seen a sense of entitlement in any of their faces. Essentially the folks I have seen found out they could make more money if they were willing to travel a distance. It's the same story as mine, except I was born in the US. I started living in one city, than thought there were more opportunities in another place and moved there. My neighbors don't call me a 'johnny come lately' or resent me for having taken a job from one of them.
Who took away your last job opportunity? Was it a Mexican alien, or was it some slick jerk from the other side of town?
If they couldn't do it for their country, what makes you think they can do it for the U.S.? I understand that this is the land of opportunity, but the opportunity is to have your freedoms to work hard, believe in your own God, and succeed on your own, not to come in and take everything away from everybody else that did the work to get there. AND EVERY country eventually has to say STOP, we have enough now. There is no more room at the inn! There is no more food or money either.
The world is your community, and mine. There is no hiding behind a imaginary line running between Mexico and the U.S. Mexicans are not taking jobs by force; they show up and people give them work because it makes economic sense for them to do it that way. It's the calculating game of the marketplace, playing by rules that the U.S. has written.
IF doctors WANT to provide healthcare under the Hippocratic Oath without using taxpayer monies, that's fine. It's their labor they are giving away. My labors aren't free. . . I work so I can aquire and attain things I want. Let them do the same.
So I definitely see them as people, just as I see legal U.S. citizens as people. Why is it okay for them to have everything that we've worked for but it isn't okay for us to have everything the rest of the world has worked for? The U.S. gives, and gives, and gives. . . but nobody ever seems to want to give anything else back.
In terms of health care, I agree that there are some prickly issues. One example I can think of is the use and abuse of emergency rooms by illegal immigrants. No doubt it contributes to the waste in our health care system. But again, I believe the costs of health care for illegal immigrants is only a small part of what is making health care expensive. There are much larger problems with health care, though. It's just the other problems are more complicated: end of life care, obesity, unwed teen pregnancy, etc.
I just think we are being played. Illegal immigrants stir us up emotionally, inspire fear-- which makes us less rational and more willing to accept authority.
Sadly, it is very late where I am, so I am off to bed, but will come back to this thread in the morning. Good night all.
