Abrignac wrote:
How does being in favor of legal immigration make someone unsympathetic?
I understand. The law is the law. Period.
If someone claims, but can't immediately prove at the border that their family is in danger, too bad. Next.
Break the law? Trying to sneak in? No excuses.
No jobs where you're from? No opportinities? Too bad. Next.
First offense trying to cross illegally? Oh, second? Felony.
Rather face jail time than return home? Not a problem. Next.
Your son was murdered by a gang in El Salvador, and you're trying to save his brother from the same fate?.......tough. Next.
During the Irish Potato Famine a million or so Irish folks died and many survivors tried to enter the US, legally or otherwise. Would you have similarly turned away the thousands that snuck in? Because that's what they did. Broke the law. The final estimate of Irish illegals is between 10,000-15,000.
http://www.thejournal.ie/factcheck-undocumented-irish-usa-3559047-Aug2017/
Should they have been rounded up and deported? Returned to Ireland.
To do what? Starve? Next?
Or how about in '39 when Roosevelt, who knew about the death camps, turned away a German ocean liner with 1000 passengers, almost all Jewish, all trying to escape Hitler, forced the ship, (and 2 other ships years later) to return to Europe where more than a quarter of them died in the death camps. Politics rued the day then. (Still does) But then it was because the Nazi propaganda machine had Anti-Semitism at a fevers pitch internationally. The good old reliable politics of zenophobia. Never goes outta fashion. Ask the Italians about life (and death by mob hangings) in the American south. The fear then is pretty much the same fear and hate-driven mentality that we're witnessing today. (No small thanks to Trump)
But I di..gr...ess
Do we get to know only with the help of hindsight that desperate people do desperate things? That they'll try to escape whatever hell they're stuck in, forge passports, sneak in illegally, lie, bribe, do whatever they can to get a fresh start in a safe place. Wouldn't you? If you felt you hadn't any other option?? Life and death stuff. Because is trying to feed your family really a high crime? How about stealing a loaf of bread? I know, do it 'legally', right? And when that fails?
Next?
I know you're in law enforcement. Your survival depends on laws and clarity. But as it regards this mind-boggling wave of refugeeism we're witnessing on a global scale (!), I personally believe we have to dig deeper and show even more compassion. Not less. You know, there but for the grace of God go I?
I'm not advocating open borders. Maybe just slightly more open minds and hearts.
Do I believe that everyone with a sad story is telling the truth. Of course not.
But as you research it you see that the process of tracking down the truth of their stories is usually impossible. So err on the side of caution.
Look, I realize that these are loosely connected historical examples I've cited with different specifics, but what connects them is that these are all disenfranchised, desperate masses of people needing help from people that are more fortunate than they are.
And sometimes, I think anyway, that there are laws even higher than man's.
That there is right and wrong.
And as it concerns refugees and immigrants legal or undocumented, being compassionate is right.