"OMG! The MEXICANS are coming"

[rene moon]

I am so appalled at the attitudes of this supposedly "progressive board". It makes me sick to my stomach, just reading all this shit.

I am Latina an I live in Tucson, AZ--45 minutes from the border. My great-grandparents came from Puebla, Mexico to escape the Revolution in 1910 so, the family has been here a while.

I am HEARTENED by the activism of the protesters. Many good folks are here, escaping poverty or worse in their home countries AND working hard at jobs that are usually thankless and invisible. I think it's wonderful that these folks are claiming their voice and calling attention to this issue. All human beings have intrinsic rights not dependant on legal status. I am proud to live in country where protests such this can take place.

I've been reading the posts regarding illegal immigration and see the argument that these people are taking away "our jobs." If that is so, then why is the unemployment rate in Arizona and California (4.8 percent) the same as the national average, when both states have a much higher percentage of illegal immigrants within the population than most other states?

These immigrants, mostly from Mexico, are hard-working, family oriented people. They create jobs by being here. Like everyone else they spend money and contribute to the economy by buying clothing, groceries, cars and all of life's necessities. And I think there are taxes in involved with that.

America is NOT being INVADED. If it had been 3,000, the event would have been pooh-poohed as just a few immigrants who don't vote. But 500,000 marchers? And that's with many sympathetic citizens still on the sidelines. The silent majority if you will. Scary, huh?

Scary because of the potential voting power it represents. Scary because of the realization of the changing demographics.

The bill they were protesting, HR 4437, undermines working immigrants and their loyalty. It is very much similar to the Repatriation of US Citizens to Mexico program of the 1930s, a horribly embarrassing piece of our fine Nation's history and re-creates the Berlin Wall in our Arizona desert.

An enforcement only policy has not worked and will never work. By criminalizing worker immigrants, it will undermine US-Mexico relations and offend many who live down here, in the border culture.

Solutions for immigration must include, at a minimum, an updating of our laws to reflect our economic needs, the reality of our global state, and dealing with the immigrants currently here. If we are to know who is here, and ensure that future immigrants enter legally, we must work to bring immigrants out of the shadow and encourage legal entrance, not criminalize and force immigrants in the US to hide.

So, you better watch out, the brownies are here (and have always been here)!