Why are we afraid of these people?
by Hugh Holub on May. 28, 2011, under border issues, immigration law reform, politics
Migrants -- Photo by Jack McGarvey
Many of us who live on or near the border have had the same experience.
People trying to cross the border to work in our fields and restaurants and homes get into trouble and seek help.
They come to our front doors.
We run into them when we are out on our ranches or just driving around the borderlands.
They are in serious trouble. Dehydrated in the summer. Nearly frozen to death in the winter. Lost. Some of them have been robbed of everything they had by border bandits.
Of course we give them food and water and first aid and blankets. They are human beings in need.
And we get to know them and hear their stories.
Most have come from southern Mexico and have no future down there.
Many have been involved in coming to the United States for work for years…sometimes they are the second and third generations of their family that have come north.
In the past we only would encounter men.
But that has changed. Now we see women and even children.
Crossing the border has become much more difficult. Now they have to pay a “coyote” $2,000…$3,000 to cross. That’s a lot of money for someone who only makes that much in a year down south.
They risk being robbed. The women risk being raped.
But still they come.
Why?
Because there is no life for them at home any more. They have no future for themselves or their children.
There is work al norte they know. Hard, nasty work that doesn’t pay very much in US terms…but a lot of money for them who are used to living close to the ground and don’t need plasma tv sets to be happy.
America is the land of opportunity for them. They believe in the myth of America where people can work hard and better their lives.
They are voting with their feet to leave a country that doesn’t offer what America does. They may be “Mexican” in nationality…”Hispanic” in politically correct Americanese…but they are human beings yearning for dignity and a future.
They are not coming north to establish Aztlan. They are looking to make a little money and feed their families.
And some of them have stories about someone from their village who came to America and ended up owning a chain of restaurants. They know that probably won’t happen to them…but the dream and possibility is a magnet to risk their lives in our deserts and mountains to make the trek.
You look at the countryside they’ve walked through…the days some of them have spent enduring unspeakable hardship…and ask…why do they do this?
No amount of border enforcement seems to stop them from coming.
And you look into their eyes and you see something both magical and sad. A yearning to be free. A yearning for a better life.
Why are we afraid of these people?
___________________________
May 28th, 2011 on 8:43 am
I’m sure you’ll get a lot of the usual responses about this. I was most touched by your relating how “we get to know them and hear their stories”. I spent some time a couple of years ago in the effort to rescue migrants in trouble near the border. I also heard their stories. Though the stories varied some, my overall impression after listening to them was, despite the vast difference in our circumstances, these people were not fundamentally different than me.
It’s much harder to hate someone and much easier to be empathetic when you know someone’s name and you’ve related on a personal level.
May 28th, 2011 on 10:02 am
“They believe in the MYTH of America” This leftist comment shows the true colors of Liberals everywhere, that America is NOT great and a beacon for the world. You should be ashamed at yourself for thinking this way. I pity you and your fellow “sheep” following the BHO cool-aid express off the cliff. Just don’t try to take me and the true American patriot’s with you.
May 28th, 2011 on 10:19 am
Myth becomes reality when enough poeople believe…and the belief in what a person could be by coming to America is what made this country great.
It is the “patriots” who forget who their ancestors were and why they the came here.
May 28th, 2011 on 10:33 am
OOPS, sorry about the repost! We know who our ancestors were and are going to defend what they created, lest America becomes a second class country, where an overpowering government controls all that the people do, in the name of “Security”. What part of “Illegal” immigration do you not understand? Enforce the Laws, end the moocher class handouts ( No one taking Government handouts should be able to vote… coyotes running the chicken house, don’t you know), and give support to the Mexican people to take back their own country.
May 29th, 2011 on 6:32 am
Wow, talk about drinking kool-aid! You’ve been sucking down that Limbaugh-Beck-Coulter swill for a long time apparently, and it has yet to dawn on you that the policies and culture that they have been selling you are inimical to your own best interests. What you have bought off on is the ascendancy of the rich at the expense of everyone else – which obviously includes you.
In point of fact, the conservative slop you’re gorging on is intended to turn this country into another Mexico, where the very few control the politics and the economy and the rest of the people are solidly under their heels. Congratulations on being one of the people who can be fooled all of the time.
May 28th, 2011 on 10:21 am
“They believe in the MYTH of America” ? It is very sad when people like you are so brainwashed with Liberal propaganda, that you make comments like this, without even realizing what your saying. BHO and the Libs have you people so drunk on the cool-aid, you’re just going to follow them off the cliff. It is a good thing there are true American Patriots out here, to defend America and what she stands for. And this is Arizona , not “Baja Arizona”.
May 29th, 2011 on 8:52 am
There are many myths about the mythical place called the US of A. This may come as a surprise to you, but my guess is that you and the migrants coming here share belief in many of the common myths.
May 29th, 2011 on 9:59 am
This is a story, a wonderful one at that, about what it’s like to be human and entertain hopes and dreams of a better life, making do with what is or what seems to be available. Adding “illegal” to it makes it a nightmare and alters one’s ability to empathize and sympathize.
May 30th, 2011 on 6:50 pm
we are not afraid ,we are fed up with the rudness and the disrespect for my country and its laws.they are racist people.you don’t go to some ones house and demand thinks from them.everyone but latinos comes here and learnes the ways and language.they show respect to our way of life because they are the visitor. you get treated the same way you treat someone.
May 31st, 2011 on 6:42 pm
You might need a little remedial English there, guy. Oh, and a little less stereotyping wouldn’t hurt.
May 31st, 2011 on 6:44 pm
Ditto on the English and the stereotyping — and loose the capital letters.
June 1st, 2011 on 7:32 am
Phineas?
Did you mean to type “lose” rather than “loose?”
rather than “loose?”
June 1st, 2011 on 7:35 am
Apology for dangling that extra phrase.
Need to proofread better, myself, I guess.
(Old African proverb seems apt: “When you point a finger, pay clost attention to the three pointing back at you.”)
June 1st, 2011 on 9:46 am
Simply cannot believe I typed in “clost” when I clearly meant to type in “close!”
June 1st, 2011 on 7:39 pm
Mea culpa.
May 31st, 2011 on 7:50 pm
Don’t use apostrophes for plurals unless it is a possessive plural. Then it comes after the s.
Just saying. You know – high school English.
June 1st, 2011 on 9:40 am
Be assured, wyattearp I’ll soon be checking with some of my Native American neighbors here in SoAz.
I may learn, that to them, that you, yourself, has descended from the most rapacious “illegals” of all.
Those genocidal “Gringos,” you flaccidly keep trying to celebrate?
June 1st, 2011 on 9:49 am
What, exactly — wyattearp - is a “daisy?
June 1st, 2011 on 7:38 pm
So, three things:
You’re is the abbreviation for you are, your is the possessive of you;
You’ll never live up to your screen-name;
If you use poor English, you just come off as a rube, and your postings can be immediately ignored.
And if, by calling me a “daisy,” you’re insinuating that I’m a homosexual, then you’ve proven that you really haven’t mentally graduated from the elementary school playground.
June 1st, 2011 on 7:41 pm
The above was addressed to wyattearp, in case that isn’t clear.
June 12th, 2011 on 9:35 pm
Maybe America should open the door to all these people so they have legal access to the country and so contribute to the building of the nation. They are working jobs that Americans won’t want anyway. Now, managing them is the tricky part. That is where an implanted ic chip comes in handy. Tag them all so that authorities can monitor them. In fact, we should start tagging all illegals as a condition for granting them legal status. It should be an opt in kind of thing, and put it this way, good guys have nothing to worry.