CRAWFORD - Hundreds of people fed up with the country’s immigration policies brought their arguments to President Bush’s turf Saturday, rallying for reform not far from his ranch. In an event dubbed “A Rumble at the Ranch,” the crowd of about 500 braved stormy, soggy conditions to voice concerns and hear speakers arguing against what some called an “invasion” of illegal immigrants.
In what appears to be another move by the angry, clueless Right, a few good, God-fearing Americans got together in Crawford this past weekend and proceeded to demonstrate that they’ve completely forgotten that all of us are descended from immigrants- illegal or otherwise. In doing so, these folks demonstrated a complete lack of understanding as to why illegal immigrants come to the US to begin with.
In reading this article in the Houston Chronicle, I was struck by the anger expressed by the people who attended the rally. Unfortunately, their anger seems to have replaced anything resembling a grip on reality. I wonder how many of these folks live in homes built by illegal immigrants? Eat fruits and vegetables picked by them? Have lawns mowed and manicured by them? Drive on roads built by them? I could go on, but you get the point? We all enjoy goods and services provided by people whose immigration status is something less than legal. That these illegal immigrants work for less than Americans means that we pay lower prices for these goods and services.
If you are so virulently anti-immigration, you need to be willing to understand that you will be paying significantly more for a number of goods and services. Or are you willing to exercise your hypocrisy, enjoying the benefits while decrying those who make them possible and ignoring the reality that you yourself have helped to create?
“In our hometowns, we feel the effect of illegal immigration,” said Missy Stebbins of Killeen, a two-time Bush voter disaffected by his stance on the issue. “So we’re bringing this to his hometown.”
The Texas Minutemen and Latino Americans for Immigration Reform organized the event, approved in advance by police, which drew an eclectic crowd from across Texas and as far as California.
The diverse participants — men dressed in camouflage, elderly couples and teenage girls — listened to roughly 20 speakers, some of them third-party and independent candidates for political office around the state. The speeches urged that the borders be sealed now, illegal immigrants be deported quickly and reluctant politicians be thrown out of office.
The speakers were cheered when expressing frustration with current policies and the discussion in Washington, D.C., about allowing illegal immigrants to work toward citizenship or be allowed to remain as “guest workers.”
Others decried the dangers of unsecured borders during an era of increased vigilance against terrorism. “All of the United States is feeling it,” said Gayle Nyberg of Murrieta, Calif., who has spend the last several months traveling in a caravan along the southwestern border with Mexico.
I’m not in favor of allowing illegal immigration to continue unchecked. But how about recognizing that there’s an economic reality at work here? People risk their lives to sneak into this country for the opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their families. There is a demand for their services, as illegal immigrants are generally more than happy to take jobs most Americans wouldn’t take if they were the last jobs on Earth. Illegal immigrants build our houses and roads, collect our garbage, mow our lawns, roof our buildings, pick our fruits and vegetables, and perform scores of other jobs Americans are willing to pay someone to do. Illegal immigrants wouldn’t be here if there was no market for the labor they provide.
You can build a wall 40 feet high from San Diego to Brownsville if you want to, but that’s not going to change the economic realities that bring illegal immigrants into this country. Until we lose the hypocrisy surrouning this issue, we will never be able to adequately address it, much less resolve it. Of course, the folks who gathered in Crawford this past weekend don’t seem particularly open to this reality. It’s a whole lot easier to be angry, eh?
