20080915

Issues

Will hasn't called in a week. Not a big deal, except that I haven't been able to talk to him about our car being broken into. Well, and I really just want to talk to him.

The break in, by the way, has been resolved, mostly. The boy who did it was apprehended. He was caught breaking into another car in the same neighborhood and when his backpack was searched the phone he stole from my friend's car was there. They also found a cd player faceplate. It seemed like kismet, but alas the faceplate was not mine. It was from my dream cd player, though. Tomorrow I plan to call the cops and return the faceplate.

This kid is fifteen, he is a Mexican national, that means not a United States citizen. Which means
after he is prosecuted he will be sent back to Mexico- deported. And even though he violated me, I feel badly for him. What kind of life is that? At fifteen an illegal immigrant and already in a life of crime. I have no idea what it would be like to live a life like that. Where are his parents? What are they doing? Are they also committing crimes?

I am so lost on the whole immigration thing. I don't know what to think about it. In some ways I feel like sending them home to their birth countries is the best thing, because here they are free to commit these crimes and violate us. But then again, they are just trying to find a better life for themselves, and aren't we all doing that? We were just given more opportunities because we were born in this country.

4 comments:

Homeslice said...

wow. i'm glad they caught him,but deportation is harsh. i'm really torn about immigration.

Joxer's Human said...

I'm running late so I can't take time to comment too much. However, I totally agree with you on the complex issues surrounding immigration.. If you lived in a country without the freedoms and opportunities we so often take for granted, would you not seek something more for yourself, for your family.. We so often don't appreciate how fortunate we are..

Just to put things in perspective, I recently heard on a science podcast:

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following..

There would be;
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere
8 Africans
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
70 would be non-Christian
6 would possess 59% of the wealth
(All 6 of those would be from the USA)
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death
1 would be newly born
1 would have a college education
1 would own a computer

If you can attend a church meeting without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than 3 billion people in the world.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, the pains of starvation, you are ahead of 50 million people in the world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, or a spare change dish somewhere, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthiest..

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the millions who will not survive this week..

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead, and place to sleep, you are richer than 75 % of the people in the world..

Sara said...

I am kinda glad you are able to see things from his side and hope knowing it was just a kid helps with the violation feelings. I wish you got your stuff back though.

One of my best friends came to the US as an illegal, and she's done nothing but improve our community and the lives of all those who know her, so in most cases, I am pro-immigration. This one is a toughy though.

bodaat said...

I'm in the middle of the whole immigration thing. I'm not a US citizen and I paid an arm and a leg and went through months of waiting for answers from various state/federal agencies to get the work visas I've had. It makes me a little irritated that people get to be here without having gone through all of that to be legal. But then on the flip side, these are wonderful people who have their own struggles that I know nothing about. I don't think it's a black and white issue although some (Joey Arpaio) like to think it is.

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